The Facility
by OfficerKennedy
Summary: What Chris thinks will be a simple in and out job turns out to be much more when he's sent to Spain to investigate a secret facility. There he meets Leon Kennedy, his acidic new partner. What happens when both of them learn something new about themselves?
1. Chapter 1

Notes:- This is a mash-up of canon and non-canon. All will become clear in later chapters but as a quick guide to get you started, the events of RE and RE2 happened with the exception that Leon didn't meet Ada or Claire. Enjoy reading and remember, reviews are love!

The Facility

Chapter One – Spain

"I knew you'd end up forgetting something," Jill teased as she handed the passport over. Chris offered her a lop-sided grin and took another drag of his cigarette.

"Where would I be without you"? He replied, blowing out a smoke ring as he spoke. Jill coughed and waved the smoke away from her face. She rolled her eyes at Chris and nodded towards the airport building that stood a few yards away.

"What time's your flight"? She asked.

"Soon" Chris answered with a shrug, dropping his cigarette and grinding it into the pavement with his boot. He stuffed his passport into the back pocket of his jeans and watched as Jill started to rifle through the bag at his feet. It was his turn to roll his eyes. She was probably checking that he had his plane ticket. Looking down at his old friend he wondered how the hell he'd ever found her attractive. Sure, she had a hot body that included an ass that wouldn't quit, but she was so damn irritating. All she seemed to do was nag him. Nag him about leaving his clothes on the floor, nag him about the washing up, about all sorts of things that frankly he couldn't really be bothered with. They'd dated for a few months before he'd finally ended it. Things had been awkward between them for a while but when he'd helped her and Barry found their new organisation, The BSAA, the awkwardness had melted away and things were almost back to the way they'd been when they were both S.T.A.R.S all those years ago.

"Good luck out there" She said, standing up and handing him his ticket. "I hope your new partner treats you well"!

"I'm sure he'll be fine" Chris picked up his bag and the two of them headed for the airport entrance.

Chris sat back in his seat as he accepted a bag of free peanuts from an airhostess. He'd made his flight on time which, of course, he'd always expected that he would despite what Jill insisted. As he ripped open the bag and helped himself to a large handful he knew that instead of watching the dumb romantic comedy currently playing, he should come up with some sort of plan for his task ahead. If truth be told however, he hadn't actually been told that much. Barry had phoned him a week or so ago informing him that the government were prepared to offer the BSAA some minimal funding. As much as Chris hated the government and the current president, he couldn't exactly thumb his nose at money. All the government was asking in return was that the BSAA send out an agent to aid one of their agents who was currently undertaking some job in Spain. Barry had happily volunteered Chris.

He crammed another handful of peanuts into his mouth and crunched loudly. He didn't mind being volunteered. The pay was good and if there was one thing Chris thoroughly enjoyed it was getting a big fat cheque for a job well done. He just hoped that his assurances to Jill regarding this new partner would be true. The last thing Chris needed or wanted was to be stuck with some asshole for the duration.

"I hope this partner you're assigning me is good. I don't want to be landed with some asshole"

"Relax Leon" Dennis looked up from his computer. "Barry Burton is a personal friend of mine, he knows good men," He added reassuringly in his clipped English tone as Leon helped himself to a cupful of water from the cooler in the corner. Leon took a sip and regarded his colleague for a moment. Dennis was dressed like your typical government official in a smart suit and dark blue tie. His greying hair was neatly gelled back, and his black wire framed glasses sat on the end of his nose. Dennis had been tasked with getting him settled in Spain and briefing him on his missions. Theirs had been a brief acquaintanceship, no longer than a few months, but Leon had a quiet respect for the older man. The one thing that irked him however was Dennis' penchant for withholding what Leon considered to be important information. He knew that he was about to undertake a difficult and possibly life threatening mission but all the while Leon had a feeling that there was something he hadn't been told. It had been this morning when Dennis had chosen to tell him that he'd be having a partner. "Don't tell me you don't need a partner," Dennis continued as if he'd read Leon's mind. "The government are considering sinking some money into the BSAA and they want their money's worth. May I remind you that your particular mission is quite dangerous and that it would be prudent to have some backup"? He said with one eyebrow raised.

Leon was about to reply when the sound of the door opening interrupted him. A man strolled in with the largest muscles Leon had ever seen. He was tall as well with chestnut brown hair in floppy messy spikes. He was dressed in dark jeans and a green t-shirt and had the sort of lop sided smile that would probably drive most women crazy. Leon however, was distinctly unimpressed. The man looked like an oaf.

"The polite thing to do in these sorts of situations is knock" Leon said acidly. The guy turned to him and wiped his hand on the leg of his jeans before holding it out.

"Chris Redfield" He replied, seemingly unfazed by Leon's hostile reception.

"Ah Chris" Dennis stood up and shook Chris' hand. "He's a good guy Leon. I'm sure you won't have any problems" he turned back to Chris. "I don't know if Barry's told you but you'll be supplied with the best weapons as well as having somewhere to stay" He offered Chris a smile. "I suggest that the pair of you take the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other. Leon, perhaps you'd like to show Chris around"?

Chris noticed that this Leon character was glaring daggers at the other guy. He took the opportunity to size his new partner up. He was fairly short and had nowhere the muscle mass of his own impressive body. He had what Jill would probably describe as a swimmer's build. His hair was blonde and floppy, the sort of hair that women would lust after. It was easy for Chris to imagine that his new partner was some sort of James Bond style lady-killer. In Chris' mind it was all just a bit too perfect. At least he wasn't wearing a suit. If there was one thing Chris couldn't stand it was a stuck-up asshole in a suit. Leon was dressed instead in black combats and a fitted grey t-shirt. He was wearing an expensive looking leather jacket despite the heat inside of the small office. Posing bastard.

"Are you going to get moving or stand there looking gormless"? Leon's harsh tone broke through Chris' thoughts. He was standing by the open door, motioning towards the corridor. With a nod at the guy in the suit, Chris had no choice but to follow Leon as he strode off quickly. He didn't speak again until they were outside the building, standing in the sticky heat. As Leon tried to flag down a taxi, Chris dug in his pockets for his cigarettes. He'd had a bit of trouble finding the right building. From the outside it looked nothing like an official building. Unlike the fancy architecture he was used to, the building was grey and squat. It was three storeys high with ugly square windows and a large oak front door. It reminded him somewhat of the old RPD building only with less pomp. A slightly tattered-at-the-edges American flag hung stiffly from a short flagpole beside the door. Chris lit up his cigarette and took a deep drag.

"You took the time to get your body looking like that and now you want to give yourself lung cancer"? Leon asked sardonically. "Unless it's all down to steroids," He added with a raised eyebrow. Chris took another drag of his cigarette and made a great performance of savouring it before blowing it out. So he smoked. Big deal. He knew the risks. Jill was just as uppity about it.

"Don't know why you're acting all high and mighty" He replied. "It's not like you're any better than me, so why act like you are"?

"I'm not acting" Leon said simply as he flagged down a taxi. "I am better than you. I don't need a partner and I don't need a friend. You're someone to be tolerated until you can be shipped back to America and I can get on with my work here" He shrugged and clambered into the taxi. Chris took one last drag of his cigarette and followed him in. He was surprised at how hostile this new guy was. He wasn't exactly struck on having a partner himself but he wasn't going to act like an asshole about it. It looked as if the best thing to do would be to stay out of Leon's way until they needed to do something for the mission. It shouldn't be too hard, he theorised, and that government guy had promised him somewhere to stay. He just hoped that it would be a halfway decent hotel with a halfway decent selection of pornography.

"I trust Barry told you that you'd be staying with me for the duration of this mission"? Leon asked as the taxi sped along the busy city streets. Chris regarded his partner for a moment to look for any signs of it being a joke. It was highly likely however, that Leon didn't tell jokes.

"That guy in the suit said I'd have somewhere to stay" Chris replied. "I was thinking a nice hotel with all the facilities"

"I can assure you my house has all the facilities you'll need" Leon said. "You can try to book yourself into a hotel but I think you'll find that most of the tourists got there first"

"Great" Chris replied sarcastically. Leon looked like he was the sort of person who liked to get up stupidly early. Even when he was in the Air Force, Chris had a problem with the early starts.

"I'll tell you right now, I'm not your mother" Leon continued, almost as if he was reading Chris' mind. "On the days where we're not doing anything it's up to you what time you get up and what you do. I can show you a couple of places of interest but as far as I'm concerned we can stay out of each other's way. We don't even have to eat meals together if you want" He shrugged and offered Chris a sarcastic smile. "The only thing I care about is that when some mutant creature wants to take a chunk out of me you're there with a magnum to blow its head off"

Chris leant back in his seat. Ok, so Barry had really let him down with this one. His old friend had assured him that it would be a simple enough mission, a quick in and out job that would secure the BSAA's funding. What Barry hadn't told him was that there'd be a chance he'd run into mutants and a partner with a serious attitude problem. As the taxi continued its journey to god knows where, Chris made a mental note to kick Barry Burton's ass the second he got back to America.

As it happened, Leon's home turned out to be much nicer than any hotel Chris could imagine. Unlike its owner, it was actually cosy and radiated an aura of homeliness that reminded Chris of the apartment he used to share with Jill. The building itself was nestled between the small mountains and resembled a log cabin. There was a balcony across the front that looked as if it offered splendid views of city in the distance. Once inside, the rooms were tastefully decorated with neutral creams and pine. There were a few personal possessions about and a couple of photographs on the wall in the lounge. There was a pair of glass panelled double doors that looked as if they led out onto a large decked area with what looked like a small hot tub. Chris could imagine himself resting his aching muscles in there at the end of a hard day. As soon as they got in, Leon had seated himself on the black leather sofa and was flicking through a file folder. Chris had stood around awkwardly for a few moments before settled into one of the matching armchairs.

"Nice place you got here" Chris commented, feeling slightly awkward at the silence that had descended. Chris always liked a lot of noise in his life, whether it be general chatter, the TV or a games console. Silence to him was somewhat of an alien concept.

"It belongs to the government really" Leon replied, not looking up from the paper he was holding. Chris wondered if it was the mission brief. Leon didn't seem to be in a hurry to share any information.

"You seem like a nice guy," Chris blurted out without really thinking. Leon had showed no signs of being remotely nice and as soon as the words had come out, Chris felt incredibly stupid.

"Really"? Leon looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "And how exactly do I seem like a nice guy"? He challenged. When Chris simply shrugged dismissively, Leon closed the folder with a snap. "Please refrain from saying any old crap that comes into your head. I'll find it incredibly tiresome" He continued. "I've just had a look at the brief that Dennis provided and it would seem like we can easily get this done within a day or two. In fact, if you're as good as your Barry Burton insists you are, we could have it done and dusted within a matter of hours which would certainly suit me"

Chris nodded and resisted the urge to reach over the coffee table and grab his new partner by the throat. If it weren't for the fact that Leon could easily leave him homeless in a strange country, he would certainly like to teach the snide man some manners with his fists. He watched through narrowed eyes as Leon wandered into the open plan kitchen area and pluck an apple from a wooden bowl on the counter top.

"This is just money for me" Leon continued, taking a bite out of the apple.

"That makes two of us" Chris replied, trying not to sound as defensive as he felt. He wondered if Leon could hear his stomach rumbling. Was he expected to just help himself or was there a decent takeaway around? He fumbled in the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet and then it hit him. "Shit! I left my bag in the taxi"!

"Pretty stupid thing for you to do" Leon said calmly, taking another bite from the apple. Chris suspected that he'd just slid even further down Leon's estimations of him.

"Well…it means I'm gonna need some things…toiletries and clothes and stuff" He added somewhat sheepishly. Now he had more things to rely on his host for. Leon shrugged and tossed his apple core into the bin.

"Write a list. I need to get some things tomorrow anyway"

Chris watched the other man leave the room. He leapt out of his armchair and grabbed the bunch of bananas from the wooden fruit bowl. He was starving! He hurriedly unpeeled one and crammed half of it into his mouth before grabbing a pen and a notepad that were neatly laid out beside the phone on the pine coffee table.

Leon frowned as he tried his best to decipher Chris' list. He hadn't expected much from the oaf but legible handwriting would've certainly been nice. When he'd woken up that morning there'd been no sign of Chris so Leon had assumed that he was still languishing in bed. Leon had eaten a quick breakfast and made the trip back into the city to the local supermarket.

He wandered the aisles and tossed various things into his basket barely pausing to look at what he was grabbing. Leon hated shopping. It was one of those things that he needed to do but he preferred to do it as quickly as possible. He wasn't friendly with any of the locals and many of them looked upon him with suspicion. Dennis had told him that many of the residents didn't trust Americans but that suited Leon just fine. He'd learnt enough Spanish to enable him to get by with the basics but hadn't bothered to learn any of the conversational stuff. The language barrier made it so much easier for him to distance himself from people.

Chris leant his head back against the cushioned corner of the hot tub. It hadn't taken him long to figure out how the thing worked and it had taken him even less time to shed all his clothing and climb in. The bubbling water felt great against his skin and the heat was soothing his muscles just as he'd imagined it would. He'd never been in a hot tub before but he resolved to seek one out when he returned to America.

He'd had a great night's sleep in his new bed. The mattress was nice and soft and the pillows had been plump. The sheets had smelt fresh and clean which was a far cry from his own sheets back home. His clothes that he'd been wearing had been carelessly discarded on the carpeted floor and he'd made the trek from the bedroom to the hot tub entirely naked after making sure that Leon wasn't around.

He briefly wondered if Leon would mind him using the hot tub but then dismissed that notion right away by deciding that he didn't really give a damn. His presence in the house was obviously such an annoyance to his new partner it wouldn't really matter what he did. Chris stretched and scratched his stomach. It was time to start considering breakfast. He hauled himself out of the water and gave his hair a quick scrub with a nearby towel. He turned to face the glass double doors and was shocked to see Leon standing there holding a brown paper shopping bag. Chris jumped back slightly but made no effort to cover his nudity.

"I had no idea you were a peeping tom," He said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"At what point did I give you permission to use my hot tub"? Leon asked coldly. He averted his eyes so that he no longer had to look at his new partner's genitals. Chris didn't seem to be in any great hurry to cover up. "Naked" He added.

"I was all sweaty and achy," Chris answered simply with a shrug. He bent down to retrieve the towel and wrapped it around his waist. "I don't get what your problem is. I don't have anything you haven't seen before. We're both guys. Is that my stuff?" He took the bag from Leon as he passed him and wandered back into the house leaving Leon standing there, frozen.

Much to Chris' surprise, Leon announced that he would be cooking for them both. Leon hadn't said anything about it, but Chris guessed his new partner still felt a little uncomfortable about seeing him in the nude. Not that he could blame the guy, Chris smirked to himself, he was pretty impressive to look at. He imagined that Leon felt a little threatened by having someone around the place who could so easily kick his ass. He looked up from the mission file to see Leon serving up what looked like a very delicious stew. Chris dropped the file and hurried over to the table.

The stew tasted as delicious as it looked and smelled. Chris was on his second bowlful when he decided to break the silence. Leon hadn't said a word to him since he'd said 'dinner's ready' and Chris had to assume that it was to do with the hot tub incident.

"You're not still bugged about the hot tub thing are you"? He asked in between mouthfuls of stew. If this one meal was anything to go by, Leon was a great cook. Way better than him and almost as good as Jill.

"Why would I be bothered"? Leon asked smoothly. He'd been reading a newspaper as he ate but was now looking at Chris with thinly veiled irritation. It was a look that was becoming all too familiar.

"I dunno. You just looked it" Chris shrugged. "I'm sorry I didn't ask your permission to use it or anything. I figured you wouldn't really care. As for the whole naked thing, well, I didn't wanna just take something of yours cos it doesn't seem right going commando in another man's fatigues" He shrugged again. "Unless that's your sort of thing of course," He added as he drained his bowl. Leon opened his mouth to reply but was cut off. "Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against gay guys Y'know everyone's entitled to get theirs it's just personally I prefer women" He stuck his finger in the now empty bowl and ran it around the edge before licking it clean noisily. "I don't think the gays would really go for a guy like me" He pushed the bowl away and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, and began crunching loudly before continuing. "You've probably noticed that not only do I stink, I smoke a lot and can never turn down a beer"

"Some guys would really like that" Leon replied quietly. He wondered why Chris was so eager to talk to him. He'd never known anyone talk so much so suddenly. And what the hell was this little monologue on sexuality about? Was it just him or had that come completely out of left field?

"Jill didn't like it" Chris continued, still munching on the apple. "She's an old friend. We dated for a while but it didn't really work out. I think I was too much of an oaf for her," He said with a grin. "Anyways, enough about me. How come you're here"?

"When you say it like that you insinuate that I'm not here by choice" Leon answered, pushing his own bowl away. He wasn't finished but the sights and sounds of Chris devouring an apple would be too much for the strongest of stomachs.

"Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall you know that"? Chris had now finished the apple and was lighting up a cigarette. "We're supposed to be getting to know each other"

"Says who"? Leon challenged. "I told you, this is just money to me. Nothing more. I don't need friends," He said getting up from the table and gathering together the bowls and cups. "I'd ask you not to smoke in the house but chances are you'd ignore me. I assume the toiletries I got for you are to your liking"

"Yeah they're great" Chris stubbed his cigarette out onto his side plate. Leon was probably right with the ignoring thing but at least for now he'd abide by his host's rules. "What about clothes"?

"I'll wash those for you" Leon replied, nodding at Chris' clothes. "Just leave them outside your room when you go to bed. I'd say I hope you don't mind sleeping naked but I wouldn't mean it and I know you won't mind it" He turned the tap on and started to wash the bowls.

"Of course not" Chris said with a grin.

END OF CHAPTER ONE.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N :- The usual shizzle, I don't own Resident Evil. First off, I'm dedicating this to Coxcomb who is, and continues to be, an inspiration to me. Her story 'Nothing Is Ever Simple' inspired this work and for that I'm thankful. Many thanks also to Zet Sway for being constructive and opening my eyes. Finally thanks to Sally for taking time to review!

The Facility – Chapter Two

Chris woke up the following morning to a completely silent house. He could see the rays of sunlight peeking through the crack in the curtains and using that as logic, he guessed that it was a pretty nice day outside. He rolled onto his back and idly stroked his semi-erect penis. He hadn't slept naked in a while and it seemed that doing so had made his body rather aroused. Deciding that he couldn't really be bothered pleasuring himself and would only do so if his slight morning wood refused to go away, Chris grabbed a discarded towel from the bedroom floor and wrapped it around his waist. Since there were no signs of life around the house as he wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen area, he could only assume that Leon was out doing food shopping or something. He yawned and glanced out of the kitchen window to see his now clean clothes flapping in the slight breeze. He never really understood the point of drying clothes outside. Jill had always said something about them smelling nice but the one time Chris had tried line drying his clothes a bird had crapped on them so understandably he was sour on that particular subject.

He had a quick root through the kitchen cupboards and discovered a box of cereal. Unsurprisingly it was that nasty healthy fibre crap. He poured himself a hearty portion and added a liberal splash of milk as well as four spoonfuls of sugar before sitting down on the sofa and digging in. If he was at home, he would normally either watch a bit of TV or read a comic but it didn't look like Leon owned either. He briefly wondered what Leon did to wind down. He almost dropped his bowl of cereal as he heard the door opening. Leon walked into the lounge carrying a large plastic bag.

"What's that"? Chris added, nodding towards the bag and spraying a mouthful of milk and half masticated cereal over the arm of the sofa.

"I've picked up some clothes for you" Leon replied, pulling a face at the mess on the sofa arm. "I contacted the taxi company this morning and they told me that your bag wasn't at the office with the rest of the lost property so one can only assume that it's gone" He explained. "I don't wish to take you on a shopping trip so I thought I might as well get it sorted for you while I was out"

"You mean you did something nice"? Chris asked with genuine surprise. Leon rolled his eyes and dumped the bag by the side of the sofa.

"If you want to look at it like that yes," He replied as he wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a nearby tea towel.

"How did you know what size to get"?

"How do you think I knew?" Leon said as he wiped at the cereal and milk blobs with the tea towel. Chris was learning quickly that Leon was an incredibly tidy person and couldn't abide the slightest mess.

"You guessed"? Chris suggested.

"Of course I didn't guess" Leon snapped. He was back in the kitchen now, getting himself a drink of orange juice from the large fridge. "I just looked at the label in your clothes. Any idiot would think to do that" He looked pointedly at him.

"Alright, there's no need to be a jerk about it" Chris shrugged, dumping his bowl on the coffee table for the simple fact that he knew it would piss off his partner. Small victories like that made him feel better. He grabbed the bag. "I'll go and try these on" He muttered as he headed for the stairs.

"Look Dennis, enough is enough alright"? Leon was trying his hardest not to shout but Dennis was being particularly annoying. He knew that he should've never accepted a partner. It wasn't as if he really needed the money right away anyway. He could've hung around for a bit, waited for a solo mission to crop up. He should've stuck to his guns and protested from day one. "I need you to get rid of him. He's lazy, incompetent and he's just going to slow me down"

"Leon, don't worry about it ok? I have it on good authority that Chris is highly skilled and experienced" Dennis replied, sounding rather bored. Leon could hear him typing away on his computer as he spoke. "Whatever problems you're having with him I'm sure you can sort it out. I can arrange for your pay to be doubled-"

"It's not money that's the-"

"Triple then" Dennis cut him off. "I'm going to have to go Leon. I've got an important meeting to attend. I trust that you won't be contacting me again until you have a status report"

With that, Dennis hung up. Although he seemed like a warm and polite person, Dennis could certainly be a hard ass when the situation warranted. It was obvious that Leon wasn't going to get anywhere by complaining to him. "For fuck's sake"! Leon shouted, hurling his phone onto the sofa. "Why must I be cursed with a partner who wouldn't look out of place in Planet of the Apes…" Leon's voice trailed off as he turned round and found himself face to face with Chris. The other man was wearing the combats and t-shirt Leon had bought him earlier.

"I was just coming to apologise for calling you a jerk," Chris said calmly. "You're not a jerk really. You've let me stay here and you've bought stuff for me and for that I'm grateful" He cleared his throat. "I didn't realise quite how low your opinion of me was"

Leon opened his mouth to say that he didn't mean it but he had to credit Chris with some intelligence. It was pretty damn obvious that he meant every single word.

"At least I know you've actually got feelings now," Chris continued with a shrug of his shoulders. "Here was me thinking you were some sort of impenetrable ice man. Do you think that maybe you could at the very least try to be a friend? I mean, I know you don't do friends or partners or whatever but if you were to actually be nice and open up a bit it might make our time together a little easier"

"Fine" Leon said quietly with a heavy sigh. Chris grinned at him and gave him the thumbs up. Leon almost smiled.

"If there was a speed limit around here I'm pretty sure you'd be breaking it right now" Leon moaned as he clung to the dashboard in front of him. The mission brief had outlined a strange looking cave entrance in the nearby mountains that they needed to check out. Leon had rather stupidly allowed Chris to drive the jeep.

"You should've seen the look on her face when she came home from work"! Chris continued his fresh monologue, completely ignoring Leon's last statement. "I mean she was acting like I'd clubbed a baby seal to death not just made a little mess. How was I supposed to know that the blender has a lid"?

"It's generally how it stops the liquid from coming out" Leon replied sardonically. Chris however, didn't seem fazed.

"She didn't let me forget that one for ages," He added as he pulled the Jeep to a stop. Leon leapt out of the passenger side and hurried over to the trunk. Chris joined him and the pair equipped themselves with magnums. Leon grabbed a Beretta and Chris grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun.

"Intelligence think that there's some sort of secret facility located beyond that cave opening" Leon said, nodding towards the cave entrance that was a few metres away. He strapped a couple of first aid sprays to his belt and handed a torch to Chris. "You ready"?

"Locked and loaded partner" Chris replied with a suggestive smile.

"Well I wouldn't say this cave looks strange" Chris commented, swinging the beam from his torch around the cave walls.

"Do you ever stop talking"? Leon asked with distaste. He was moving slowly, using the hip light on his belt to guide him. He would never admit it, but he was starting to think that Chris was actually right. They'd entered the cave and nothing out of the ordinary had jumped out at them. In fact, if truth be told, nothing had jumped out at them at all. The cave looked just like any other cave one might come across.

"I hate silence is all" Chris broke Leon's thoughts with yet another inane comment. Leon decided not to justify it with a response. He ran his hand along the cool stone wall looking for a clue. He knew that Dennis and the agency wouldn't have demanded an investigation without good reason. There had to be something they were missing…

"Ouch! Fuck"! Chris exclaimed. Leon craned his neck round and in the low light he could make out the form of his partner who seemed to be hopping.

"What did you do now"? He asked coldly.

"That's real nice that is" Chris spat, still hopping. "I just cracked my toe against some stupid thing sticking out of the ground and-"

At that, Leon raced over to Chris and dropped to his knees, swinging his hip light and looking for the thing that Chris had nearly tripped up over. It didn't take him long to find it. A thick metal handle was sticking out of the ground a mere foot in front of him. He crawled forward and, on closer inspection, the handle was attached to what looked like a very heavy manhole cover. "I'm fine by the way," Chris continued. He'd stopped hopping now but was shifting from foot to foot, obviously still in pain. Leon snorted, if the guy couldn't handle a little pain then he really needed to grow a pair.

"Are you helping me with this or not"? Leon demanded. The handle looked as if it was long enough for two people to hold at the same time. Perhaps it was designed that way. After a moan and a wounded look, Chris limped over and, on Leon's count of three, the two of them pulled hard.

The manhole cover opened with ease and a dim light flooded the cave around them. A rusty metal ladder went downwards but it was too long for them to see what it led to.

"You ready"? Leon said, nodding at the hole. "I'll go first" He added without waiting for Chris' reply. They were getting on with things and that was a good sign. It meant that there was still the possibility that they could be done within hours and that Chris could be shipped back to America and life as he knew it could return to normal.

The trip down the ladder was long and uneventful. Chris seemed to be keeping his mouth shut and Leon wasn't in any hurry to invite the oaf to start talking again. The further down the ladder went, the colder the temperature was getting. When they finally reached the bottom they discovered they were in some kind of corridor. The walls and ceiling were made from sheets of dull grey metal and the floor was a metal grill. Leon looked down and saw a network of thick pipes under the grill.

"This way" Leon nodded to the left and was surprised when no argument came from his partner. Could it be that the older man was finally showing him some respect and letting him get on with his job? He turned around to give Chris further instruction but he wasn't there. Since Chris hadn't passed him, the only logical direction he could've gone was right. Leon rolled his eyes and sighed, he knew it was all too good to be true. He sloped angrily down the corridor and soon found his wayward partner.

Chris was standing in front of a large door that was at least twice his height and width. There was a keypad to the left and Chris was examining it with one hand on his hip. Leon glared at his partner's wide back before stalking over to him.

"This is a big door" Chris commented when Leon approached him. "I'm willing to bet that something important is behind it," He added, still puzzling over the keypad.

"I said we were going left" Leon replied through gritted teeth. Chris, as usual, totally ignored him and started to type in seemingly random numbers. "What the hell are you doing"? Leon demanded as Chris continued to tap at the keypad until it emitted a loud bleep.

"There" Chris grinned at Leon, oblivious to his icy glare. "If you try to guess the password, the system locks you out after a few tries"

"So"? Leon spat.

"Usually when the system locks you out you need to call an engineer to unlock it for you. I happen to know the engineer's code for this particular model" Chris smirked at him smugly. Leon shook his head and in doing so, noticed an odd gooey liquid seeping out from under the door. A smell invaded his nostrils. It was similar to rotting meat and damp carpet.

"Don't touch that keypad," Leon ordered, taking a few steps back. His right hand twitched over the magnum in his holster. A loud double beep echoed in the corridor and the door started to move. The smell got worse as a gap between the floor and the door started to get bigger as the door opened, sliding upwards.

"Too late" Chris said sheepishly. The door was opening at an alarming rate. Whatever was behind it, they were going to have to stand and fight. Chris grabbed the shotgun from his back and shot a look over at Leon. The younger man was standing ready, his weapon raised, his expression focussed. A low, guttural moan broke the silence and a long thick tentacle slid through the gap. With a noise like a whip cracking, it shot upwards and went straight for Leon. Chris fired and hit the tentacle dead on but instead of exploding in a mass of blood and gore, sharp spines, at least three or four inches long suddenly unfurled from the end of the tentacle. Another whip-crack followed and, lightning fast, the tentacle whipped across Leon's body. Chris watched helplessly as his partner recoiled but not before firing off a shot from his magnum. The door was nearly halfway open now and more tentacles were slithering across the metal grill. Leon let out a whimper of pain but kept firing. Chris joined in; unleashing bullet after bullet but all of them had little to no effect on the creature.

"The bullets just bounce off this thing"! Chris yelled, sounding slightly panicked.

"We can't do this" Leon hissed through his teeth. "We're not prepared. We need to get out of here now"

"Let's go" Chris replied, firing one last shot at the tentacle nearest to him. Leon started to limp off back down the corridor, clutching his side. Chris ran over to his uninjured side and forced his partner to wrap his arm around his neck. Leon tried to break free but Chris gripped him around the waist with his other arm.

"I don't need you…" Leon spat as they hurried along the corridor.

"Bullshit" Chris said with a quick glance behind him. There didn't seem to be any sign of the monster but if they didn't hurry there soon would be. They reached the metal ladder and Leon clambered on, hissing with pain as he reached up for the next rung. His left hand curled around it and he tried to haul himself up whilst keeping his right arm wrapped around his injured left side. Chris could see his knuckles start to turn white. "Get on my back" He ordered.

"What the hell? You can't carry me…" Leon argued. His side was aching horribly and he could feel the sticky wetness of the blood beginning to seep through his fitted top. He knew there would be no way he could climb the ladder under his own steam. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he actually needed his partner. He grudgingly stepped down from the ladder and leapt up onto his partner's back. A loud roar from the monster urged Chris onto the ladder. Leon wrapped his legs around Chris' waist, digging his knees in slightly as Chris moved as quickly as he could the ladder. His arms wound round his partner's neck and he heard Chris mutter a curse when the older man caught sight of the blood that was streaked up Leon's forearm.

Chris hauled himself and Leon up the ladder. His eyes kept travelling to the blood that was congealing on his partner's right hand and arm. He knew that the wound must be agony but Leon was being stubbornly quiet. All Chris could hear was his partner's slightly pained breathing.

Fortunately, the hole leading back to the cave was wide enough for them both to fit through. Chris fell to his hands and knees when he climbed through but quickly got back up.

"I can walk now…" Leon muttered, sliding off Chris' back. His face was pale and his forehead sweaty. It was the first time Chris had seen him look anything but perfectly composed. His mouth was a grim line of pain and his blue eyes dull. His eyes widened however when the monster uttered another fearful roar. Chris dived back as the tip of one of the tentacles appeared from the hole. Thinking fast, he pulled an incendiary grenade from a pouch on his belt and threw it down the hole. He and Leon barely had time to dive out of its way before it exploded in a ball of flames. The creature emitted a horrific high-pitched scream and the tentacle wilted back down the hole.

"That was close" Chris said, mock-wiping his brow. He turned to look at Leon who hadn't gotten up from his dive. "Oh shit…" He ran over to the younger man, skidding slightly on the damp stone. Leon was lying on his uninjured side moaning softly.

"We need to get out of here," He said quietly.

"Just let me have a quick look" Chris replied, starting to lift up Leon's top. "It looks bad…" he mumbled. The spine had pierced Leon's side and torn upwards leaving a nasty gash that was oozing blood steadily. Chris tried his best to remember what his old friend Rebecca Chambers had told him about basic first aid. He removed his t-shirt, grateful that he'd chosen to wear a vest underneath, and grabbed his combat knife from his belt. He cut the t-shirt into strips and wordlessly wound them around Leon's side, trying his best to apply pressure. It was likely that the wound would need stitches but his priority was getting them both to safety. The t-shirt bandage would do for now. He helped Leon pull himself into a sitting position before helping him stand. Leon accepted this help without comment but Chris could tell the younger man was clearly uncomfortable with appearing so vulnerable.

The pair of them exited the cave and made it back to the Jeep. Chris helped Leon into the passenger seat before getting into the vehicle himself. He turned on the engine and the radio immediately started to blare out the old disco classic 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor. Chris couldn't help but smile at the irony. He wasn't sure if it was relief or just himself winding down, but he started to laugh. This drew a glare from Leon.

"Oh come on, it's funny" Chris said, gesturing towards the radio. Leon narrowed his eyes and shook his head, slumping back against his seat. Chris rolled his eyes and pulled away from the cave entrance. "So what's the deal with you then? Surely this whole non emotion-showing robot thing you've got going on is an act"?

Leon simply ignored him and closed his eyes. Whether he was actually getting sleepy or just wanted him to shut up, Chris didn't actually know.

"You could thank me for saving your ass" He added.

"Or I could berate you for nearly getting us killed" Leon replied smoothly, his eyes still closed. "I told you we were going left and you just completely ignored me" he shook his head. "Do what I say next time" It wasn't a request but a downright order. Chris sighed heavily and concentrated on his driving. He was beginning to think that there was no getting through to this guy.

The drive back to the house was long and largely silent. As soon as they were back in the house, Leon dug his first aid kit out of a cupboard and insisted on attending to his wound himself. Chris watched helplessly as the younger man fixed himself up with Steri-strips and bandages before sitting down on the sofa to write up a report on their findings. Chris was sure that Leon was going to include his insubordination and would've protested but Leon didn't look like he was in the mood to be argued with. Chris sat in the armchair flicking through a discarded newspaper but it was no use. He didn't know a word of Spanish and the pictures weren't sufficient enough for him to get the gist of the stories. He threw the paper down and leant back in the chair staring up at the ceiling.

"I could do with a drink," He said aloud, not expecting a response. Leon didn't look like much of a drinker and even if he did indulge it would probably likely be something uppity like red wine. Chris hated red wine.

"I don't have beer if that's what you're thinking" Leon replied quietly, looking up from his papers. "But there's some whiskey in the kitchen cupboard nearest the fridge. You can fetch me a glass too," He added as Chris stood up.

"Should you really be drinking with those painkillers you took"? Chris asked in a concerned tone. He dug around in the correct cupboard and located the bottle of amber liquid. A quick sortie in the cupboard above produced two whiskey glasses.

"Sometimes only a drink will do," Leon replied, holding out his hand for the glass. Chris shrugged and poured him a healthy measure before handing it over. Hell, he wasn't the guy's mother. He poured himself one and placed the bottle on the coffee table between them before settling back into the armchair. He downed half the contents of his glass, feeling his body relax as the whiskey burnt the back of his throat. He loved the warm feeling that followed in his stomach.

"I'm sorry I screwed up back there. I guess I didn't really do much to raise your expectations of me and my abilities"

"They weren't high to begin with" Leon replied shortly knocking back his entire drink in one. "I've always thought you looked like the gung-ho act first think later type, and today you proved those thoughts right" He wiped his mouth and ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to be in pain and it had been on the tip of Chris' tongue to ask the younger man how he was but his comments had, as much as he didn't want to show it, hurt his feelings somewhat. He finished his own drink and poured himself another one. He slid the bottle over to Leon who did the same. Chris swirled the whiskey around in his glass for a moment. He opened his mouth to try to defend his actions but Leon beat him to the punch.

"You're supposed to be elite," He continued, pushing his papers aside. "You have extensive training both military and police and I would've thought that meant you would be able to follow a simple command. I asked you to go a specific direction and you ignored me. I asked you not to interfere with that keypad and you ignored me yet again. Your inability to follow those commands endangered our lives and the mission"

"You're a pompous ass" Chris shot back finishing his glass and slopping more whiskey into it. "You've had a downer on me since I first stepped foot into that office" He downed his shot yet again and poured another. "You act like you're a perfect example we should all follow but guess what buddy you're just a guy" he could hear that he was slurring his words now but he didn't care. He was a beer drinker by nature and couldn't take his spirits but the whiskey fuelled his anger at his partner. "You need to learn to actually communicate through words, not filthy looks and little snorts. It's not healthy to keep all your emotions bottled up like you do. It's unnatural"

"Don't presume to know anything about me" Leon calmly downed his second glass and poured himself a double measure. "You don't know a thing"

"I know you're a pompous ass" Chris repeated his earlier insult. He'd ditched the glass now and was taking swigs directly from the bottle. "I thought we were both going to make the effort to try and get along" His head was starting to feel fuzzy from the alcohol and he knew he was pretty drunk. He looked over at Leon who seemed his usual composed self. "So how's your side anyway"? He asked with a hint of bitterness. He was bored of arguing and thought it best to try and diffuse the situation.

"The alcohol has helped" Leon answered; he reached over and snatched the bottle and took a swig straight from the neck himself. Chris grinned, maybe his partner was a little drunk after all.

"You know that's like we just kissed" Chris teased after Leon was done drinking. Leon rolled his eyes and passed the bottle back to him.

"If you're eight" He replied. His usual acidic tone had disappeared and he'd said it almost good-naturedly. Chris wondered if the whiskey was beginning to loosen his partner up a bit.

"So how did you end up working for the Government"? Chris asked. The younger man was a complete mystery to him and he might as well take advantage of his seemingly relaxed inhibitions to learn a little more about him.

"I was a cop" Leon was now laid out on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. "It was my first day and I turned up in a city that just happened to have experienced a major viral outbreak"

"Raccoon"? Chris offered. Leon turned to look at him in surprise and nodded. Chris offered him a small smile. "Yeah I know all about that. Don't suppose you heard of the mansion incident"?

"The one that got the S.T.A.R.S team suspended" Leon replied. Chris nodded sagely. "That's why I was brought into Raccoon, one of the first of eight new recruits. The team I was going to be assigned to was meant to act as a replacement for S.T.A.R.S" He explained. He reached his hand out for the whiskey bottle and Chris passed it over. "I drove straight into hell. Everywhere you looked there were bodies, dead and decaying. Hell on Earth" He took a deep swig.

"My sister was on her way to find me but luckily I managed to get a message to her to stay away" Chris said accepting Leon's offer of the bottle. "I'd hate to think what could've happened to her"

"I found a child" Leon carried on speaking with a far away look in his eyes, almost as if he hadn't heard Chris speak at all. "Sherry her name was. She'd been stuck in the police station for days…she was terrified. Couldn't find her parents…she was being followed by this, this creature…I managed to get her out of there and that godforsaken city but we were picked up at the boundary by Government officials. I wasn't really given much choice regarding working for them" Leon swallowed hard.

"Do you still see Sherry"? Chris asked. He could tell by the way his partner's face had softened when he'd said the girl's name that he'd obviously cared for her at lot. Not that Chris could blame him; they'd been through hell and back together. That sort of thing could create strong bonds. He knew from experience.

"They let me look after her for a while but I don't see her now" Leon answered the question guardedly. He looked away from Chris' eyes and continued to stare up at the ceiling. It was obvious, even to Chris, that it was a sensitive subject. Even in his drunken state Chris knew not to push it any further. He took another sip from the bottle and started to pick at the label. Emboldened by the whiskey he slowly reached out and patted Leon's hand.

"I'm sorry Leon," He said gently. He expected Leon to bat the proffered hand away with a vitriolic comment. It came as a surprise to him that Leon took hold of his hand.

"Thanks" He replied. His lips quirked almost as if he was going to smile but he didn't allow it to get that far. He also didn't release Chris' hand. Chris gave the hand a quick squeeze back taking in the fact that it didn't feel unpleasant to be holding another guy's hand for what was, at least for him, an abnormal amount of time.

END OF CHAPTER TWO.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes;- Unsurprisingly, I still don't own Resident Evil. Thanks as always to Coxcomb for being the inspiration and Zet Sway for being the reviewer who is drenched in awesome sauce! : )

The Facility – Chapter Three

It was midday before Chris awoke. His limbs were shaking and his head was pounding. His mouth was dry and his eyes were bleary. His whole body ached and he was beginning to feel where he'd gained bruises from diving out of the way of the grenade. He tried his best to sit up, wincing in pain as the movement proved too much for his headache. He closed his eyes and let out a moan. He'd always known he couldn't hold his own against spirits. He didn't really remember getting to bed but he did remember puking a good few times before he did so. He rolled over gently and spotted a glass of water on his bedside table. He knew that he wouldn't have had the sense to put it there.

"Leon…" He said quietly, suddenly remembering his partner's story from last night. His revelation had made the younger man seem more human and less like the iceman persona that he liked to project. Chris wondered if Leon would mention it when he went downstairs or whether he would simply pretend that it hadn't happened. Chris had a feeling that it was going to be the latter. He would've liked to have found out more but he knew that there was no chance Leon would let his guard drop again. It was highly likely that he'd be hungover too and in a foul mood.

Chris took his time showering and getting dressed. He hadn't bothered to shave since he'd arrived in Spain and had grown some quite impressive stubble. He ran his hand over his chin whilst checking himself out in the bathroom mirror. He decided that he quite liked the stubbled look. He wandered down to the kitchen and started to root around in the fridge. What he really needed to clear out his hangover was a good fatty fried breakfast but he didn't expect Leon to have that sort of stuff in his fridge.

Leon himself was already awake and sitting at the pine kitchen table. There was a steaming cup of coffee in front of him and he was scribbling away at his report. There was a rack of toast in the middle of the table with a pot of what looked like strawberry jam beside it. Chris wondered if he was to just help himself. He closed the fridge door and sat down opposite his partner. There was a glass of water at his place with a box of painkillers beside it.

"I thought you might be needing those" Leon said, nodding at the box. "You're free to do whatever you want today. I'll be going to the office to debrief Dennis on what happened at the cave"

Chris nodded and couldn't help notice that his partner looked particularly stressed. He wondered if it had anything to do with the previous night or whether he was in a lot of pain from his injury.

"You should maybe stop at the hospital and get that wound checked out," Chris suggested. Forgetting all about his manners and listening solely to his stomach, he grabbed a slice of toast and liberally smeared it with the jam.

"Not necessary" Leon replied. His tone was back to its usual constant mild irritation. "I've already completed the paperwork regarding yesterday's incident in the cave" He slid the papers across the table and took a sip from his coffee cup. Whilst Chris looked over his writing, Leon leant over his file folder and studied his notes. His floppy hair fell in front of his eyes. His hunched shoulders and hidden face gave him a distinct look of being fed up. It reminded Chris of the way he'd looked last night when talking about that Sherry girl. Without thinking, Chris slid his hand across the table and placed it over Leon's. Leon reacted as if Chris' hand were boiling hot. He withdrew his own hand quickly, slapping Chris' away. He stood up quickly and gathered up the papers.

"Don't you ever try to touch me again Redfield" He spat as he slammed out of the house. Chris leant back in his chair and sighed deeply.

"Well this is certainly something we weren't prepared for" Dennis mused as his eyes skimmed over the report. Leon was leaning against the water cooler barely listening. His mind was playing over the events of the previous night. He'd never recounted the story of his time in Raccoon City to anyone before and he couldn't for the life of him understand why this Chris Redfield was any different. He'd struggled with it all night and the only conclusion that he could come to was that his tongue had been loosened by the whiskey.

"Did you manage to collect any samples of the thing that attacked you in the cave"? Dennis asked.

"No" Leon replied, not meeting his eyes. "I was…injured," He admitted. "If we're going to fully explore and secure that facility we're going to need better equipment"

"I'd like to give you it Leon, I really would" Dennis said, closing the file folder and placing it back on his desk. "But my higher-ups think they've sunk enough money into this mission already. As far as they're concerned they've hired two of the best in business and they should've seen results by now" Leon opened his mouth to protest but Dennis held up a hand. "If it were me I'd be giving you everything you need but it's not up to me. I'm simply the messenger. I know it's frustrating and I know you don't get along with your partner but you're just going to have to deal with it. I'm being put under a lot of pressure here, and you should be grateful I'm not putting it on you"

"I know Dennis" Leon replied with a heavy sigh. "And I'm grateful for that. You've done a lot for me since I arrived here"

"More than you care to remember I'm sure" Dennis said, raising his eyebrow suggestively. Leon shook his head but allowed himself a brief smile. He'd only been in Spain a week when Dennis had insisted on showing him some of the Spanish nightlife. They'd gotten completely drunk and before Leon knew it, he was back and Dennis' place and indulging in a little bit of 'overtime'. That had been months ago but they often talked about it. They'd agreed that it had just been a one off occasion and neither man had felt the need to turn it in to some sort of relationship, casual or otherwise. That night had served to confirm for Leon what he'd been thinking for a long time, that he was gay. Dennis had since settled down with a Spanish girl that he'd met at some restaurant so Leon figured he was either bisexual or had made a mistake that night.

"Could you at least get hold of some armour piercing bullets"? Leon asked. "The regular ones just bounced off that thing"

"I'll see what I can do," Dennis answered. "But for now why don't you go home and get some rest" He typed something into his computer. "I would suggest you go to the hospital to have your injury checked but should I perhaps not waste my breath"?

"Got it in one"

Chris checked the oven for what seemed like the tenth time. Leon was obviously fuming about last night's events and Chris decided that the best way to make it up to his partner was too prepare his secret weapon. His homemade chocolate chip cookies always used to work on Jill whenever she was in a mood so he hoped that he'd have similar success with Leon. There was only one minor problem with his plan. Usually, when he required the cookies, he would invite Claire over and she would do a large portion of the actual cooking. He'd watched her enough times however and he figured he'd got the recipe right. It had looked right anyway when he'd dumped spoonfuls of the dough onto the baking tray.

"What on earth are you doing"? An angry voice demanded followed closely by the sound of the front door slamming. Leon stormed into the kitchen area and threw a little white paper bag onto the kitchen table.

"Oh…um…just making a little something" Chris replied casually as Leon grabbed the juice from the fridge and poured himself a glass. He drained half of it before sitting at the table and ripping open the white bag.

"Just burning a little something more like," He said, pulling a box of painkillers out of the bag.

"Shit"! Chris exclaimed. "I just looked at them"! He wrenched the oven door open and sure enough, a burning smell filled the kitchen. Chris pulled the baking tray out of the oven and examined his cookies, which now resembled brown-black lumps. "Shit" he repeated. He waited for some kind of snarky comment from Leon but was surprised to find his partner smiling.

"You tried to make cookies"? He said with a hint of amusement. He popped a couple of tablets out of their foil container and swallowed them with a mouthful of juice.

"I was trying to make it up to you" Chris replied pathetically, poking at the burnt lumps.

"Maybe in future you should try something else" Leon suggested as he watched Chris dejectedly dump his 'cookies' in the bin and shove the tray into the sink. Chris looked so forlorn that couldn't resist the urge to reach out to him. "If you want to make it up to me you could have a look at my wound" He offered. "It's really starting to hurt"

"Sure, no problem" Chris said with a shrug. "Just get on the sofa" He added, nodding towards the sofa. Leon stood up and headed into the lounge before lying down on the sofa on his uninjured side. Chris fetched the first aid kit from the cupboard and knelt down beside his partner. He carefully lifted up Leon's t-shirt and slowly removed the bandages. Leon's eyes seemed to be focussing on a distant point at the other side of the room and it was obvious that he felt uncomfortable. Chris gently unpicked the surgical tape that was holding a patch of gauze to the injury and lifted it off. The puncture wound and gash were an angry shade of red and horribly swollen.

"I think it's infected." He said, examining it closely. "There's a bit of pus leaking from the wound"

"You're going to have to clean it. Do you know how"?

"Yeah but it's gonna hurt" Chris answered. Leon nodded. "Ok, back in a second" He hurried into the kitchen and prepared a bowl of warm water. He dissolved some salt in it and carefully carried it back to the sofa. He reached into the first aid box and pulled out a pack of gauze and a pair of latex gloves. He put the gloves on and opened the gauze before dipping it in the bowl of water. "You ready"? Leon nodded his confirmation and Chris put his hand over the wound. Using his thumb and forefinger, he squeezed the edges of the gash as hard as he dared. He heard Leon's hiss of pain as the pus started to ooze out and Chris used the damp gauze to carefully wipe it away. He did this for about fifteen minutes until the pus no longer came out. "I'm done now" He said reassuringly. "I just need to put some cream on it ok"? Leon was breathing heavily and his skin was slightly red and clammy. It was obvious he was trying not to show how much pain he was in. Chris grabbed some antiseptic cream from the first aid box and squeezed some onto his gloved palm before gently rubbing it into the wound. He carefully wrapped the injury back up with fresh bandages and tidied the empty packets and his now discarded gloves away knowing that his partner would want him to clean up after himself. He stowed the first aid box back in its correct cupboard.

"How are you doing"? He asked when he came back into the lounge. Leon had made no attempt to sit back up and was laying with his arm over his face.

"Peachy" He mumbled.

"Well if you don't need anything else, I think I'm going to go for a shower" Chris replied. "I'll bring your painkillers in here with some water so you don't have to get up"

Chris fetched the box of painkillers and a glass of water and put them on the coffee table so there were in easy reach for Leon. The younger man hadn't removed his arm or said anything else so Chris decided to head up the stairs for his shower. His feet were barely on the first step when he heard the quiet but definite comment.

"Thanks"

Leon opened his eyes and was a little confused to see a white ceiling and a maroon light-shade. He distinctly remembered falling asleep on the sofa so, logically, he should've woken up to see a cream ceiling and an impressive brass and glass light-shade in the shape of a star. Leon didn't often have lapses of memory so he found the situation a little odd to say the least. How the hell had he ended up in his bedroom? Surely those painkillers weren't that strong?

"Awesome you're up"

Leon sat up slightly to see Chris easing his way through the bedroom doorway, having some trouble with a tray.

"What the-"? Leon started to say as Chris slowly made his way over to him, the contents of the tray wobbling ominously.

"You seemed really out of it yesterday and I figured it was because of your infection so I brought you up to bed and thought you might like to rest today" Chris explained. "I fixed you a little something," He added, laying the tray across Leon's lap. It was a rather haphazard concoction that Leon supposed was Chris' attempt at breakfast. There was half a glass of orange juice that he'd obviously squeezed from the oranges in the fruit bowl judging by the large amount of pips that were floating in it. Next to this was a stack of blackened toast and a bowl of yellowy froth, which Leon had to assume, were scrambled eggs. Chris had laid out two painkillers on a piece of folded toilet paper, which Leon guessed was meant to serve as a napkin. The centrepiece of this disaster was a dandelion that Chris had presented in one of the dirty milk bottles. "That guy from your office phoned. He said he's managed to get what you asked for and that you should stop by to pick them up" He continued, grabbing a knife and fork from his back pocket and handing them over. "So I told him I'll come to get them. He seemed concerned when I said you were ill"

"You shouldn't have said that" Leon replied sourly. "I'm not ill" He insisted though his side was still aching horribly and felt as though it were on fire. Chris frowned and put his hand across Leon's forehead. "I asked you not to touch me," Leon snapped, batting the hand away, albeit a little weakly.

"You're burning up" Chris replied, folding his arms across his chest. "You need to stay in bed. Eat your breakfast and then you can take your painkillers. I'm gonna get a shower and then head to the office to meet that guy"

"And who put you in charge"? Leon said snippily. He knew Chris had a point. He felt terrible and knew that he was in no shape to make the trip to the office to pick up the bullets and it really annoyed him. Chris disappeared, presumably to take a shower, leaving Leon to poke at the food on the tray. He'd never had someone make him breakfast in bed before and although the food looked virtually inedible; it was nice to think that Chris had obviously put in the effort in the first place. The whole situation of being taken care of was alien to him yet in some way, it made him feel good. He looked down at the contents of the tray and wondered what to do. He didn't want to eat any of it but at the same time, he didn't want to leave it untouched. He heard the shower start up from the bathroom down the hall. He considered hurrying down the kitchen and disposing of the food there but there was no way he'd be able to get down there quickly and get back into bed. He could slide the tray under his bed but that would be too obvious. He looked around until an idea struck him. Without a second thought, he opened his bedside table drawer and tipped the food into it, closing it quickly before resting the empty tray and plates back on his lap. As much as it pained him to create such a terrible mess by dumping the 'breakfast' into his drawer, it pained him more to think that he would hurt Chris' feelings if he left the tray untouched.

Chris hammered on the office door. He'd been directed to Dennis' office by the sexy looking receptionist and was now waiting for him to answer. He remembered how Leon had told him off for just barging in last time so he figured that this time he should knock. He didn't however; expect to be hanging around outside the door waiting for an answer. The few people that were milling about the corridors in their business suits were starting to give him strange looks like he was some sort of idiot. He gave a final knock before trying the door handle. It turned easily and, deciding that he'd stood around long enough, Chris let himself into the office. He knew now why he hadn't received an answer. The office was empty.

He hadn't really taken in his surroundings the last time he'd been here. It was a pretty average sort of office. He would've expected it to be a lot more swankier since it was in a government building and all but it was actually pretty boring. There was a water cooler up against one wall with a pot plant next to it. The desk was in the middle of the room with one of those executive leather chairs behind it. There were a couple of filing cabinets against the opposite wall and above those was a map of what was presumably Spain. The only personal effect in the whole room was a chipped RPD coffee mug on the desk. Chris picked it up and looked at it, smiling slightly when he realised that what he was holding was now quite rare. He put the mug down and noticed a few files scattered on the desktop. He recognised one of them as the report that Leon had compiled and one of the others to be a copy of the mission brief. The other folder that got his attention was one that had his name neatly written across the tab in sloping script. Unable to resist the urge to just leave it there, Chris sat on the edge of the desk and picked the file up. He'd known that the government would've had some information on him but he was interested to see just how much they had. As he flipped through the slim folder, he could see that it was all pretty standard stuff. His basic information was there, his full name, date of birth, place of birth as well as a basic resume dating right back from his time in the Air Force. He smirked as he read the sentence 'Was summarily dismissed from the United States Air Force on the grounds of insubordination'. Whoever had compiled the file certainly knew their stuff. Even Claire and Jill didn't know about his dismissal. He'd told them both that he'd simply chosen to leave and wanted a change of career. The file went on to briefly outline his achievements in the RPD, his transfer to S.T.A.R.S and then, in more detail, his involvement in the Spencer Mansion Incident and subsequent Anti-Umbrella activity. It mentioned his trip to Russia as well as a brief summary of the BSAA and their funding applications, their most recent being to the government and a pharmaceutical company called Tricell. Chris frowned at that last part. It had been Barry's idea to apply to Tricell but Chris wasn't so sure. It seemed that after all their past troubles with a certain other pharmaceutical company and virus spillages, applying for funding from another was just, quite frankly, dumb.

Chris tossed his file aside after dismissing it as being extremely boring. He didn't need to read about himself since he was, after all, himself. He glanced back down at the other files on the pile and raised his eyebrow as he saw one identical in colour to his own but with 'Leon Kennedy' written across the tab. Chris looked around quickly to make doubly sure no-one was around, behind the plant for instance, before picking it up and opening it. He felt a twinge of guilt at doing so but hell, he'd tried his damnedest to get to know his partner only to be knocked back so he thought he might as well go for it. He quickly skimmed through Leon's basic information, learning that his partner was three years younger than him and that his middle name was 'Scott'. The file touched upon his time at the police academy, mentioning that he'd graduated top of his class with a list of scores attached. Chris flicked through a few more pages and found a copy of the letter confirming his transfer from the NYPD to the RPD. There was a long summary of the Raccoon City incident, which was followed by a transcript of his interview with government agents and medical notes indicating that he'd been shot during the Raccoon City outbreak. Intrigued, Chris read on to discover that Leon had been granted temporary guardianship of Sherry Birkin but this was quickly revoked when he was assigned to basic training for the government as well as some psychological concerns following his experiences in Raccoon City. Chris felt another stab of guilt as he read on, realising that Leon probably wouldn't want him to know that there'd been talk of him suffering PTSD as well as being observed to have 'self destructive tendencies'. Chris flicked forward a few more pages that detailed Leon's training and his success in O.R.E. or 'Operational Readiness Exercises'. Chris found it strange to read reports that indicated that Leon worked well with others and had had a succession of partners during basic training missions. A name that continued to crop up was 'Jack Krauser'. It seemed that the pair had trained together at one of the facilities and had been recognised as an efficient and high-ranking team. There was a small sheaf of mission reports signed by both Leon and Jack Krauser indicating that they'd been on a lot of missions together. Chris' frown deepened. He knew that Leon didn't like to talk about himself and his past but he would've thought he'd have heard something about this Krauser guy since the two had obviously been a good team. He read on, flicking through more mission reports until he found something a lot more interesting. There was a mission report entitled 'Operation Javier' that mentioned something to do with the Veronica virus that Chris recognised from his time in Antarctica. Both Leon and Krauser had participated in the mission but strangely, the mission document was signed only by Leon. As he turned the page Chris read a report that detailed Leon's treatment at the hands of Krauser regarding his sexuality. Chris almost dropped the file in surprise. Leon was gay? The report stated that upon returning to the their government base following the events in Brazil, relations were strained between Leon and Krauser with the latter completely distancing himself and refusing to work with him. The report also contained an interview with Leon where Leon was made to explain his reasons for coming out to his partner, how it had happened and what the reactions were. As Chris read the interview he discovered that Leon had trusted Krauser enough to tell him about his sexuality and that Krauser had reacted badly to it. Their working relationship became instantly strained and Krauser listed this as the reason for getting injured during Operation Javier. Leon had explained to the interviewer that Krauser was deeply homophobic and had, in his own words, made his life a misery. Krauser was held in such high esteem amongst the other recruits at the base that they instantly sided with him on the matter and Leon was left a virtual outcast. The interview ended with the interviewer asking Leon what they could do to better accommodate him. Leon had asked to be moved away from the base completely and that he would take any job offer they had even if it meant leaving the country. It was here that he was offered the post in Spain. The interview and job offer had been signed by Leon, the interviewer and a third party witness.

Chris closed the file and hurriedly put it back on the desk. He had that slightly sick feeling in his stomach that you get from discovering something you didn't really want to know. He swallowed hard and stood up. No wonder Leon hadn't wanted to tell him anything about himself or even wanted him as a partner. It was obvious that he'd cared for and trusted Jack Krauser enough to tell him about who he really was, only to have it backfire horribly. It all fit together, Leon's business like demeanour, his acidic comments, and his unwelcoming attitude. It was all designed to keep him at arm's length at all times. Chris shook his head. He decided that he would go back to the house and would tell Leon that it was all ok. He had no problem whatsoever with gay people and as far as he was concerned; who Leon banged was none of his business anyway. He knew Leon wouldn't be over the moon at the idea that his private file had been read but he figured that the relief that he could drop the act and be himself would outweigh that.

"Ah Mr Redfield" A voice made Chris jump. He whipped round to see Dennis standing there, holding a black messenger bag. Chris had been so involved in reading the files; he'd actually forgotten that he was there to collect something. Dennis smiled at him and proffered the bag. "The bullets that Leon was asking for" He explained. Chris took the bag and slung it over one shoulder. "I trust you're finding Leon alright to work with"?

"Yeah, yeah" Chris nodded. "It'll be even better now-" He was about to explain why but knew that this Dennis guy probably wouldn't appreciate his files being disturbed. "So this is all I came for"?

"That's right. I'd like you to tell him that they're weren't easy to come by but that I managed to pull a few strings" Dennis smiled. "Oh and wish him a speedy recovery"

"Oh great, you're up"! Chris grinned at his partner as he breezed through the front door. Leon was sitting on the sofa flicking through a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. It was the first time since they'd drunk whiskey together that Chris had seen the younger man look relaxed. There was a bit more colour in his cheeks and it appeared that the lazy morning had been just what he needed. Chris smiled as he dumped the messenger bag on the floor by the front door. A relaxed Leon was a sight he could easily get used to and he was about to make it a bit more permanent.

"Did you get the bullets"? Leon asked, looking up from his newspaper. Chris nodded and took a seat in the armchair, grinning from ear to ear. Leon looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you look so pleased with yourself"? He asked tentatively.

"You can relax now" Chris replied triumphantly. He'd been practising how he was going to impart the good news to his partner on the journey home and thought that he had it right.

"So you got the bullets"?

"Bullets? Oh yeah…those" Chris waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah Dennis gave me a load" He nodded towards the bag on the floor. "But, even better news than that, you don't have to be all worried and uptight anymore"!

"What are you talking about"? Leon looked utterly confused.

"I know you're gay," Chris answered with a shrug. He'd decided that the direct approach was probably the best. "I know that you're gay and that that Krauser guy got freaked out by it and started being a dick and that's why you act the way you are. I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to be like that with me because I'm fine about it, like I said before, I've got nothing against gay guys so yeah"

"Explain" Leon said darkly. Chris glanced over at his partner to see that the relaxed vibe had completely disappeared. He was leaning forward slightly with an expression on his face that could only be described as well controlled rage. Even Chris could see that he was digging his own grave and rapidly.

"Um well…y'see…I didn't really mean to but there was this file on Dennis' desk and he wasn't there…so yeah…Y'know how it is…hanging round you need something to read"

"So you read my personal file"? Leon was speaking calmly but Chris could see a nerve in his temple flickering. This wasn't the exact reaction that he'd been expecting. He nodded slowly. Leon's mouth became a thin, grim line. Chris braced himself for a verbal assault but was surprised when, wordlessly; Leon got up from the sofa and left the room.

END OF CHAPTER THREE.


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: - Here we go, chapter four! Zet Sway your reviews are, as always, a pleasure to read. Thank you once again! Have a chocolate coated Krauser! And thanks also to manoerina for reviewing!

Apologies for the longer gap in this chapter upload. I'm busy working on the sequel!

The Facility – Chapter Four

Chris stared moodily out of the Jeep's passenger side window as the countryside whizzed by. Armed with the armour piercing bullets, they were now on their way back to the cave and the underground facility. Chris supposed that it was a good thing that they were pushing on with the mission since relations between him and Leon had hit a new low. After Leon had walked out of the room Chris hadn't really seen much of the younger man and the only communication he'd received was that they'd be setting off for the cave first thing. Chris had tried to speak to his partner over breakfast but every attempt at conversation had been rebuffed. He hadn't expected Leon to take the news so badly and he was struggling to understand why. If Leon had spent so long segregating himself from people just because he was worried about how they might react when they discovered he was gay, surely it would come as a relief to learn that he was being accepted with no trouble. Chris' head swam as he tried to make sense of it all. He supposed that he didn't know his partner as much as he thought he did. He just wished that Leon could see that he didn't mean anything malicious by reading the file.

It was a long and conversation-less drive. Chris found it awkward to be silent for so long but he knew there was no use in trying to speak. They arrived at the cave, wordlessly tooled up, loaded their guns with the new bullets and once again headed into the darkness. As they rappelled down the hole where the ladder had been Chris couldn't shake off the familiar feeling that they were being watched. There were no signs of the remains of the creature he'd killed with the grenade which un-nerved him slightly. They landed safely in the corridor and this time, Chris followed behind Leon. They carefully headed down the corridor for a few metres until Chris could stand the crushing silence no longer. He wasn't sure if it was the uncertainty of where they were going or whether he just needed to hear a fellow human's voice but he just couldn't take it.

"Look, about yesterday…don't you think that we should maybe talk about it or something"? He spoke awkwardly to Leon's black clad back as they reached a door.

"It doesn't require our immediate attention" Leon answered coldly. "What does however, is this door. I need you to cover me. Do you think you can do that"?

Chris nodded and sighed as Leon braced himself. The door was, of course, locked, which meant that it required a little brute force. With one swift and effective kick, Leon had the door open. The pair entered what looked like an old storage room. There were a few empty oil drums stacked up in one corner and large metal crates lined the length of the wall on the opposite side. Leon did a quick sweep of the room and came up with nothing. There wasn't even another door, which they could try.

"Looks like we're back to that door we went to when we first came here," Chris said. He wanted to add a little something about him being right all along but he sensed that it probably wasn't the right time.

"There could be more of those creatures in there" Leon replied, looking thoughtful. "There has to be another way into that room that doesn't leave us so open to attack"

"How about the air vents"? Chris suggested, nodding towards a vent covering in the top right hand corner of the room. "They've got to lead somewhere and I bet we'll be pretty safe in there" He added smugly.

"Hmm" Leon looked at the covering thoughtfully. "As much as I hate to admit this. You might actually be on to something" The covering was right above one of the oil drums. Leon grabbed hold of the drum and shook it, testing it for strength. He climbed onto the top of the drum and started to pull at the covering. His left side was still painful but he ignored the insistent throbbing and after a lot of jiggling and pulling, the cover came away in his hands. He discarded it carefully, not wanting to alert anyone who might be around to their presence.

Chris watched as Leon hauled himself up into the vent. He dashed over to the opening and followed, pulling himself into the cramped and dirty space. Leon's backside was mere inches away from his face but he resisted the urge to make any sort of comment. Instead he remained quiet as they crawled through the vent, heading back in the direction that they'd come from. In theory, the vent would lead to the room where the creature had been residing.

"When I helped found the BSAA I didn't imagine I would be crawling through dirty air vents…" He said, snorting loudly as he inhaled another generous amount of dust.

"Quiet" Leon snapped. "There's an exit up ahead"

Chris looked around Leon's ass and saw light flooding into the air vent from the gaps in the slats of a cover on the floor of the vent. They crawled over to it and Leon carefully crawled over it and awkwardly turned around in the vent so that they were now facing each other over the slatted cover.

"So what's the plan? Boot that thing in and storm the room with our guns blazing"? Chris asked hopefully. All this sneaking around wasn't really his thing. He much preferred action and shooting.

"Of course" Leon spat sarcastically. "There's probably a girl down there who needs rescuing and she'll be oh so grateful that you saved her from the monsters and the pair of you can make hot love on the corpses of whatever we'd killed"

"Now that's what I'm talking about"! Chris replied excitedly. He grinned at his partner goofily, pleased that the younger man was actually talking to him. Leon shook his head and leant forward to look through the slats. From what little he could see, it appeared that he was looking at a science lab similar to what he'd been in back in Raccoon City. The floor was made of white tiles and he could see a monitoring station with a row of flickering images. There was a takeaway coffee cup on the desk of the monitoring station, which indicated that it had been in recent use.

"So when are we actually going to do something"? Chris asked. "It's too hot in this damn vent, I'm sweating like mad" He wiped his wet forehead with the back of his hand and then wiped that across the chest of his t-shirt. Leon looked disgusted.

"I can't hear anyone down there" He replied. "Get ready to cover me just in case" He ordered before he started to kick at the cover. It came away easily and Leon even managed to reach down quickly and catch it before it hit the ground. He pulled the cover up through the hole and rested it against the wall of the vent.

"Let's go," He said before dropping through the hole.

Chris had to marvel at the way Leon managed to execute an agile landing. He followed through the hole and landed in a heap on the floor almost winding himself in the process. He got to his feet quickly and dusted himself off to cover his embarrassment. It didn't matter anyway, since Leon wasn't even looking at him. He was too busy scouting the room.

Just as Leon had assumed, they were in a lab. There were cupboards along the walls with the biohazard symbol printed on them and what looked like a large water tank over the other side of the room. There was an operating table in the middle of the room with a large desk beside it covered in papers and bottles containing various coloured liquids. Everything was white and pristine, a complete contrast to the storage room. A sick feeling descended over Chris. It was all too familiar to him, too much like the lab they'd found during the Mansion Incident.

"So this is some sort of research facility," Leon said as he strolled over to the desk and looked at the row of liquids on display. Chris chose to examine the large tank in the corner. The water inside was green and murky like dirty pond water. He tapped the glass but nothing seemed to stir. He heard a click come from behind and turned around to see a thick muscular arm wrapped around Leon's neck holding him close to a body. A large, mean looking combat knife was being pressed to his face and Leon's blue eyes were wide with shock.

Chris broke out into a cold sweat as he stared at the man who held his partner. There was something about the man's face that he recognised, the scar the traced from his forehead over his eye and ending near the corner of his mouth. The steely cold grey eyes, the self-satisfied smirk, the slicked back blonde hair. He knew he'd seen this man before but he couldn't for the life of him place where.

"Drop the gun," The man ordered, tightening his grip around Leon's neck and pressing the flat of the blade against Leon's cheek.

"Who the fuck are you"? Chris demanded with a growl.

"Tell him Kennedy," The man ordered, his eyes never leaving Chris'. He gave Leon's neck another hard squeeze.

"Krauser" Leon choked out as Krauser smirked. Chris glared at the man. He knew he'd seen his face somewhere before. His picture was in Leon's personal file. So this was the man who'd made his partner's life hell.

"They told you I died in a helicopter crash didn't they"? Krauser whispered teasingly into Leon's ear. His eyes locked back onto Chris'. "I told you to drop that weapon"

Chris slowly bent down, putting his magnum on the floor. His eyes never left Leon's. Whether his partner was trying to communicate something with his eyes Chris didn't know but there was no way he was going to put Leon's life at risk. Krauser walked Leon forward and kept a tight hold of him while he picked up Chris' gun. He relieved Leon of his weapon and then released him, shoving him hard into Chris. He pointed one of the magnums at the pair of them.

"Now move," He ordered, nodding towards a heavy metal door that led to the adjacent room. Krauser pressed a button on the doorframe and the metal door slid open revealing a completely pitch black room. He pushed Leon hard in the back and he fell into the room, following closely by Chris. Krauser then backed away. The pair saw him press the button once more and the door slid closed, leaving them in complete darkness. Chris felt a sharp elbow dig him in the ribs hard.

"You fucking idiot! You should've just shot him"! Leon spat. He couldn't see his partner's face in the darkness but Chris guessed that he looked distinctly unimpressed.

"Oh I'm sorry" Chris said sarcastically. "Why didn't I think of that? I mean fuck it if that bastard stabbed you" He clambered to his feet. "I understand if you wanna see him shot-"

"Of course you understand" Leon replied acidly. "You read my fucking file. You know all about him" There was a metallic clang as Leon obviously punched or kicked one of the walls. "Fuck. Why don't you listen to me? Why don't you ever listen to me? I don't need a friend or a partner. Why did you have to read that file? Why couldn't you have just waited patiently, sat still and not touched anything? Why do you have to touch what isn't yours? Everything's Chris Redfield's property! You take what you want without giving a shit about any consequences"

Chris picked a loose thread on his t-shirt feeling stupid. He should've known all along that Leon wouldn't have taken kindly to his file being read. He'd never heard his partner sound so angry before.

"I'm sorry," He muttered into the darkness.

"Just leave me alone. I need to find a way out of here" Leon replied. He was silently cursing himself for not equipping himself with his usual hip light. He walked around the room with his hands outstretched and from sheer sense of touch alone, he worked out that the room they'd been put in was fairly small, no more that six or seven feet squared. The walls seemed to be made of the same metal as the ones in the corridor and the floor was solid concrete. There appeared to be nothing else in the room apart from the two of them. Chris could hear his partner wandering around the room muttering inaudible things to himself and he felt like it was starting to drive him mad. He slumped to the floor and leant his back against the wall. The silence between them was uncomfortable and it was obvious that Leon wasn't going to apologise for his outburst any time soon and Chris had no idea what to say to make the situation better. Jill had more than once accused him of being emotionally retarded. She said by the time he'd worked out what people wanted from him, it was too late. He wondered if Leon really didn't want anything from him. Reading his file had been an education to say the least. Leon was still fairly young to have gone through so much and knowing what he'd been through had aroused a new respect in Chris. He sighed deeply and stretched out on the floor, resting on his elbow. He had no idea of what had been in this room before him but he figured that if he hadn't picked up something from everything he went through in the Mansion, chances are he was pretty resistant. Without warning he felt the toe of a steel capped combat boot collide with his stomach and a warm body collapse over him before hearing the clang of something colliding with the metal wall.

"You fucking dick" Leon moaned. "Why would you lay down in a dark room"? He asked as Chris felt him roll off him.

"To go to sleep"? Chris suggested. "That's what mainly happens in darkened rooms," He added sarcastically.

"You're really annoying, you know that"? Leon spat.

"You might have mentioned that before yes" Chris replied. "Are you ok? It sounded like you hit the wall"

"Nothing my arm won't recover from" Leon answered. "Look, I can't find a way out of here"

Chris got to his feet and dusted his clothes off.

"Is there no air vent cover"? He asked.

"There could be" Leon said. "But the walls in this room are really high and I can't reach the corners…" Leon's shoulder collided with Chris' chest. "What the hell are you doing you oaf"? Leon protested as, without warning, Chris climbed onto his back.

"Getting a boost" Chris explained as if it were the simplest concept in the world to grasp. "Let's see if we can find anything now"

"Jesus" Leon moaned as he walked forward. "How much do you fucking weigh? A hundred kilos"?

"Ninety-eight actually" Chris responded with a goofy grin, even though he knew Leon couldn't see it. "Didn't want you to bust your Steri-strips trying to climb up my impressive physique. Anyway, I thought you wouldn't mind my awesome crotch poking you in the back"

"Oh yeah, with me being gay I positively relish it" Leon said sardonically as he moved, with great difficulty, to the first corner.

"Did you just make a joke"? Chris asked, sounding genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected Leon to react positively to that comment but he figured a good tongue-lashing was better than their previous awkward silence.

"Just hurry up and find something," Leon said quickly. Chris' bulk was testing the very limits of his bench-pressing abilities.

"Awesome! An air vent"! Chris exclaimed as his hands came into contact with a metal ridge. Further investigation told him that it was another air vent cover. He started to pull at it and it came away easily in his hands. He reached up and felt the air vent. "Feels smaller than the last one. Don't think I'm going to be able to fit through it"

"Get down then"! Leon replied. His shoulders were screaming in pain. He felt the weight suddenly shift off them as Chris slowly climbed down off his back. "How about you give me a boost this time"?

"Sure" Chris said, dropping the air vent cover on the floor so that it made a loud clanging noise. He waited for Leon to tell him off but nothing came. "How do you want to do it? Ass to face or crotch to face, the choice is yours partner"

"I'll tell you how I want to do it you vacuous oaf. I'll shove my foot up your hairy ass and launch you into that metal door. Your thick skull is bound to break it down," Leon answered smugly.

"My aren't we defensive" Chris said with a chuckle. "Are you sure you'll be able to cope without me"? He asked Leon dug his hands into his shoulder to climb up. He let out a grunt as he felt Leon's full weight rest on his shoulders.

"I'll muddle through somehow" Leon replied as he hauled himself up into the air vents. "Try not to get yourself killed before I can mount a rescue mission" He added. "If I choose to rescue you," he continued. Chris opened his mouth to reply but judging by the sound of rapid shuffling, he guessed his partner was already out of earshot.

Leon ignored the burning in his chest as he ran down the corridor. He'd managed to find his way out of the air vent system easily enough but it had landed him in a corridor that he didn't recognise. It had the same metal panel walls and grill flooring of the original corridor but this one was lined with doors. The few that weren't locked tight appeared to be offices, probably for the researchers. There was no sign of anyone, which Leon found immensely strange. Either this whole floor wasn't in use or the people that used to work in those offices had run away. If they had run away, what had they run away from? If they'd been some sort of viral spill there'd surely be bodies but with every room that he searched he found nothing. The corridor was eerily silent aside from the echoing of his boots as he ran.

Logically he knew that he would eventually come to a set of stairs or a lift. He was pretty certain that the facility stretched more than one floor as the vent he'd been crawling through had sloped upwards for quite some time. The only problem was, he had no idea how many floors he'd moved up. He felt disorientated and it didn't help that he was unarmed and that he knew Krauser was somewhere within the facility, possibly watching him. He'd checked every office he'd been able to access for weapons but so far had come away empty handed. He had no map, no GPS and no radio yet despite all this he knew he was probably in a better situation than Chris was right now. He leant against a wall to catch his breath. He knew he needed to get back to his partner and quickly. The terrible thought dawned on him that it was entirely possible that by the time he did get back to him, Chris could be dead. It was also a possibly that saving Chris could get him killed. He knew however that he needed to save him. Leaving him behind wasn't an option despite what his training told him. Leon sighed heavily and started to move once more.

As soon as Leon left him, Chris exhausted the entertainment value of his surroundings pretty quickly. He'd moved his hands across all the walls looking for something his partner might've missed but knowing all along that he hadn't. He'd tried to jump up to the vent opening but had failed and he'd tried to play catch with a penny he'd found in his pocket but had gotten pretty bored of that. All the while he'd whistled his way through Queen's greatest hits if only to keep himself sane. He never could stand silence. He was about to start on his own interpretation of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' when light suddenly flooded the room causing him to screw his eyes up in pain. The glare prevented him from opening his eyes for a good few minutes but eventually he found he could stand to keep his eyes open. Another couple of minutes passed and he could see normally again. There was a halogen light fitting built into the ceiling and now that somebody had turned it on he could see his surroundings entirely. There really was nothing more to the room than the door, air vent and the monitors that Leon had felt earlier. He jumped backwards in surprise as they started to turn on, one by one. He was being shown, if not all, then at least a large portion of the facility. He wondered who'd turned the monitors on and why until a horrible realisation came over him. He could see Leon running down a corridor on one of the monitors and on another he could see Krauser arming himself with a set of nasty looking knifes as well as a magnum. On more of the screens were zombies wandering freely around the facility's many rooms and corridors. The screen in the top left hand corner was partially obscured by a set of tentacles. He knew now why the monitors had been turned on. He was being forced to witness a particularly sadistic game of cat and mouse.

Leon clattered down the concrete stairs and yanked open the door at the foot of them. Logically because the vents had sloped upwards, he needed to move down to get back to Chris. He found himself in yet another corridor, this one identical to the last but with fewer doors. He'd obviously moved away from the offices, perhaps to a recreation level or perhaps some smaller labs. His urge to get back to Chris was pressing him on but he knew that there was no way he could go back into that first lab unarmed. He put his left hand on the first doorknob to open it but stopped when he heard an all too familiar noise. The distant low, guttural groan of a zombie echoed along the still corridor. Leon mentally cursed. He should've known he'd run into something like that eventually. The moans seemed pretty far away but since they were coming from the direction that he was inevitably going to have to go he knew he was going to have to deal with it sooner or later. He moved into the room and discovered that it was completely empty aside from an old vending machine which had an 'out of order' sign taped to it. He sighed deeply, not fancying his chances of just coming across a weapon. He knew that he was going to have to be a little more inventive when it came to equipment. As he was leaving the room he spotted a discarded ballpoint pen on the floor. He picked it up and pocketed it before slipping back into the corridor.

Chris watched as Leon tried another door. There was a lift at the end of the corridor that he was in but the way to it was blocked off by a group of three zombies that were in the middle of feasting on a body. Judging by the stained white lab coat that had been carelessly discarded on the floor, Chris assumed that the poor bastard had been a researcher. The sweat began to collect on his forehead as he saw Leon move further and further up the corridor, closer to the zombies. He wanted to yell, shout out and tell him not to go that way but without radios, there was nothing he could do. Krauser was now stalking the corridors obviously searching for Leon and judging by the amount of weapons he was carrying, he was almost certainly after blood. Chris slammed his hand against the wall of his prison. He needed to get the hell out and quickly. He needed to find Leon and escape or find Krauser and kick the guy's ass. Now that the lights had been turned on he could see the open-air vent easily. It didn't look that high up. He ran towards the corner and started to jump up towards it. With each time that he missed, his feelings of desperation grew. He kept checking back on the screens watching his partner get closer and closer to the zombies. Leon didn't have any guns or knives, would he be able to tackle three of them unarmed? He jumped up for the air vent again, cursing loudly as he missed once more. His eyes flicked back to the screen where the researcher's body was still being mutilated. He imagined Leon sprawled out like that. Would they be able to smell the infection from his wound? Would that draw them to him as soon as they were done with their sick feast? What if Krauser found him at the same time? He didn't doubt Leon's abilities in combat but surely he wouldn't be able to fend them all off? He saw Leon's body with Krauser stood over it, gloating and spitting vile words at him. Chris let out an almost inhuman growl as he clawed at the walls with his hands, trying to crawl up to the only escape route.

He jumped as a scraping noise filled the room. He turned to see the metal door slowly sliding open, its sudden movement and reverberating noise ten times louder in the silent room. Chris felt every muscle in his body tense as he waited for something to attack him. He could see by the screens that Krauser was still stalking the corridors and that Leon hadn't yet made it to the zombies. His hands formed into fists as the door opened fully. He might not have a gun or a knife but he knew that he could pack a decent, if not deadly, punch.

When nothing leapt through the doorframe, Chris took a few tentative steps forward. He poked his head out of the prison and his brow furrowed in confusion. There was nobody in the lab. No monsters, no zombies, no people. He looked upwards, checking that nothing was hanging on the ceiling waiting to jump down but there were only strip-lights. Chris stepped out into the lab and put his hands on his hips, confused. He shrugged it off quickly however, knowing that it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe it had been some sort of technical failure that meant the door had opened? Whatever. He needed to get to Leon and he needed to get to him quickly. In the corner to his left he spotted an oak door and thundered towards it. It was locked but a swift shoulder barge sorted that out. He found himself in a stairwell with a set of concrete stairs that wound their way upward. He hurried up the stairs and stopped at the first door that he came to. His idea was to comb each floor until he found Leon or Krauser.

Leon pressed his back up against the wall as he withdrew the ballpoint from his pocket. A few metres ahead he'd spotted a group of three zombies feasting on a corpse. The group was blocking his access to the lift and he knew that if he wanted to stand against the three of them he was going to have to have the element of surprise on at least one of the godforsaken creatures. Luckily, the three zombies had their backs to him and judging by the horrible smell emanating from them, they'd been around a long time. Knowing what he knew about zombies that meant they'd be dry and brittle and easier to take down. He moved stealthily across the floor and went for the zombie closest to him. He ran forward and jammed the pen into the base of the first zombie's skull. A wet squelching noise told him that he'd hit his mark and the zombie crumpled to the floor. He stood over the body and tried to retrieve the pen but it was stuck fast. He quickly leapt back and grabbed the second zombie around the head, twisting it violently until he head the sickening snap accompanied by the sound of skin tearing as he broke the creature's neck. The third zombie had, by now, noticed his presence and lunged for him but Leon moved quickly, grabbing the beast by its brittle wrists and pushing it to the floor. It let out a low moan as it tried to right itself. Leon stamped on its head as hard as he could, his boot penetrating its skull and causing the liquefied brain matter to splatter up the leg of his combats. It was then that he noticed that it was wearing what looked like a security guard's uniform. Trying to ignore the sound of the bodily fluid dripping through the metal grill flooring onto the pipes below, Leon searched through the body's pockets and tactical belt. He found a couple of clips for a 9mm but no sign of the actual weapon. He pocketed them anyway, knowing from experience that ammo should always be taken. He also found what looked like a security key card. Finally, he grabbed the nightstick from its belt loop before standing up and pressing the lift's call button.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR


	5. Chapter 5

Notes:- Here be-eth another chapter! We're about halfway through the story now with three or four more chapters to go. I've also finished the first chapter of the sequel!

The Facility – Aftermath coming soon!

The Facility – Chapter Five

Chris opened the door and the first thing he saw was Krauser standing at the other end of the corridor seemingly waiting for the lift. Chris couldn't help but grin as he stepped into the corridor and closed the door silently behind him. Krauser had his back to the corridor so it would be easy for Chris to get the drop on him. Chris knew that the longer he hung around, the more likely Krauser was to turn round and discover his presence. The element of surprise would be his ally considering he had no weapons and Krauser was armed to the teeth. The best option would be to make use of his strength. He charged towards Krauser as quickly as he could. If he could rush the other man against the wall, he'd be able to disarm him easily. Chris saw the other man turn around and reach for one of the smaller knives strapped to his chest but, in a split second, Chris was in his face. He reached out to slam Krauser against the wall but the other man merely smirked. Chris saw a glint of shiny steel and then pain. Krauser had sunk the knife into his right shoulder. Chris reeled backwards and, with a deep breath, yanked the knife free from his shoulder discarding it on the floor as he used his left shoulder to barge Krauser up against the wall. Krauser had managed to draw his magnum but Chris grabbed his wrist and repeatedly banged it against the metal panelled wall as hard as he could. He squeezed Krauser's wrist as hard as he could and gave it one final hard whack against the wall. There was a dull crack and Krauser's hand immediately went slack, causing the magnum to clatter to the floor. Chris quickly kicked the weapon away and, ignoring the searing pain in his right shoulder, tried to force Krauser to the ground by pushing the struggling man into arm lock and digging his combat boot into the back of his knee. Krauser reached out and, as he fell, he managed to pull Chris down with him. Chris however, took advantage of the situation, managing to land with his weight on the other man. He dug his right knee into Krauser's upper left arm and wrenched upwards on his forearm. He heard a sickening snap, and felt Krauser wiggle free from his grasp. Krauser's boots connected with the side of his ribcage as he kicked out and Chris found himself hitting the opposite wall from the sheer force of the other man's kick. Chris could clearly see that he'd managed to break Krauser's arm to such a degree that there was bone sticking out of a nasty looking flesh wound. Krauser leapt to his feet quickly as Chris lay winded. A smirk crossed Krauser's features as he stood over Chris. His broken arm was beginning to tremble violently but there was no flicker of pain in his features. Chris panted heavily as he tried to suck air into his lungs. Krauser wasn't acting like a guy who'd just had his arm broken. He watched in horror as the trembling intensified until, with another sickening crack, a large bone emerged from Krauser's wound. Blood spurted across Chris' clothes and face as Krauser's fingers broke open and huge claws emerged, covered in blood and torn skin. The bone that emerged from Krauser's elbow was juddering as if something was trying to break free from within it. Chris decided he wasn't going to hang around and find out. He dived for the magnum, executing a perfect roll as Krauser lunged for him. Chris rolled into a crouch and fired off three shots quickly. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smile as all three bullets penetrated Krauser's chest, dropping him to the floor. Chris waited for the other man's next move but it didn't come. He lay, prone on the floor as blood dribbled between the gaps of the flooring beating a grim tattoo on the pipes below. Chris got to his feet and, with his gun still raised, edged his way around Krauser's motionless body. He hit the call button for the lift and stood waiting for it, hand on his hip.

"That's how we roll in the BSAA" He gloated.

"Was your childhood hero Arnold Schwarzenegger by any chance"? A familiar voice asked as the lift doors opened with a customary ping. Chris wheeled round and saw Leon standing in the lift looking unimpressed. His eyes flickered over Krauser's body but he said nothing. Chris was so pleased to see his partner he could've hugged him but he didn't really think Leon would appreciate the contact. He settled instead for clapping him on the back, careful to avoid using his right shoulder.

"Look what I've got," He said with a cheesy grin, holding up Krauser's magnum with glee. It was then that he spotted the nightstick in Leon's hand. "Mine's better than yours," He added childishly. He didn't know if it was shock or blood loss but he was feeling giddy, almost hyper. Leon stepped out of the lift and looked at him levelly.

"Is all that blood his"? He asked, nodding at Chris' blood stained top.

"He stabbed me" Chris replied flippantly. "Was worth it to get this though" He held up the gun again. "Looks like a Lightning Hawk" He looked down at his right shoulder. "This hurts like a son of a bitch though"

"Can you carry on"? Leon's tone told him that it wasn't out of concern that he was asking. He was probably worried that the mission would be ruined and it would give him another reason to be all high and mighty. Well, Chris thought, no way was he going to let that happen.

"Course I can" Chris said. He wouldn't shrugged but it would've hurt. "Did you manage to find anything else apart from your stick"? He asked derisively.

"A couple of clips for a 9mm and a key card" Leon answered shortly ignoring Chris' teasing tone. "We should make our way back to the lab where we were captured. Now Krauser's out of the way we should be able to get the samples"

"I bet you're glad he's dead" Chris said as they headed up the corridor for the stairs. "He was a bastard to you"

"With a bit of luck we'll be able to retrieve our equipment" Leon continued as if Chris hadn't spoken. He drummed the nightstick in his palm as he spoke. "I'll get a call to Dennis…arrange a clean-up crew" He was speaking more to himself now and Chris knew that Krauser's sudden reappearance in his partner's life was bothering him.

They made their way down the stairs Chris had used and back into the lab. The room was deserted and their equipment was scattered across a command console that was close to the prison door. There was a red beret beside the console which Chris recognised as the one Krauser had been wearing. They strapped on their gear and made sure their weapons were reloaded. Chris made sure to holster the Lightning Hawk as well.

"You shouldn't take the enemies weapons," Leon said shortly, checking his own gun before holstering it. "Could be booby trapped"

"But it's cool" Chris whined. "Anyway, I doubt Krauser would be intelligent enough to do something like that" He lifted up his top and quickly taped a piece of gauze he'd dug out from his first aid kit over the stab wound.

"You don't know Krauser" Leon muttered. He pulled a USB stick out of the pocket of his combats and stuck it into the command console. Chris watched him tap away at the keyboard for a few moments before wandering around the room looking for something to do. He poked at the different coloured vials of liquid for a bit but it didn't entertain him for long. He turned his attentions to the water tank, which he'd been trying to investigate before they were rudely taken hostage by Krauser. He strolled over to the tank, which was still filled with the same murky water from earlier. He tapped on the glass again trying to see if there was anything inside it.

Suddenly and without warning, a mass of tentacles exploded from the surface of the water accompanied by a smell similar to burnt bacon. Chris tried to dive out of the way but one of the blackened tentacles curled around his neck. He let out a choked cry and Leon turned round from the command console.

"Shit" Leon cursed at the sight of his partner being attacked by a mass of tentacles. A large bulbous sac was rising out of the water with a large circle of serrated teeth in its centre. The sac glistened as if it were coated in some sort of jelly. Leon ran towards Chris, slipping and sliding across the wet tiles as he dodged tentacles. Chris was struggling in the creature's grip, turning this way and that and trying to fight his way out. Leon jumped for the tank, gripping onto its edge with one hand and he grabbed his combat knife with the other. The sac reared up at him, its teeth dripping with a viscous fluid. Leon aimed for the centre of the mouth and stabbed hard. He heard Chris gasp as the tentacle around his neck squeezed harder. Leon moved to stab the beast again but felt another a tentacle start to slither around his waist. It squeezed hard and Leon felt the Steri-strips on his wound bust open. He let out a cry of pain and blindly stabbed. There was a high-pitched shriek and Leon saw a dart hit the sac just above the mouth, mere millimetres away from his face. The tentacles around his waist slid away as the creature sunk back into the water. Leon almost fell in with it but managed to save himself just at the last minute. He felt faint at the pain in his side but he groped out for Chris who seemed to be looking upwards towards the ceiling. The tentacle around his neck was gone and he looked as if he'd seen a ghost. Leon followed his partner's eye-line to see a man standing on a gantry high up along the walls. The man was holding a rifle, which he promptly discarded, withdrawing a .45 handgun and pointing it in their direction. He was dressed in a black suit and turtleneck sweater with a long black coat over the top. His blonde hair was slicked back neatly and he was wearing a pair of black sunglasses. One of his eyebrows was raised almost as if he found the situation below him amusing. Leon glanced over at Chris who was staring at the man with an intense hatred that Leon had never seen on his partner's face before.

"Troublesome beast" The man spoke in a clipped tone. "I have no doubt that I'll be able to get over the teething problems eventually" He smirked as he leant over the gantry's railing. "Well, it would seem this facility wasn't as secretive as I'd first assumed. I see you're still trying to foil my plans Chris"

"Maybe I won't need to" Chris replied through gritted teeth. Leon had never seen his partner look so tense before, so angry. His fingers were twitching over his magnum. "Maybe one of your own creations will stab you in the gut again before I get the chance"

"Now that's mightily rude Chris" The man shook his head disapprovingly. "You're not even going to introduce me to your little friend"? He strutted along the gantry like a lion on the prowl.

"Leon, this is Wesker, Wesker, this Leon-"

"Scott Kennedy" Wesker interrupted with another smirk. "One of the Academy's finest I believe. Ranked highly in marksmanship and tactical pursuit. Former guardian of Miss Sherry Birkin and a high-ranking Secret Service Agent. Wounded in the left shoulder and was at one time believed to be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," He crooned. He moved to a set of switches, still keeping the gun trained on them both. "You may have been the rat that escaped Raccoon City but unfortunately your luck has run out"

"What the fuck are you talking about your deranged bastard"? Chris shouted.

"Must you always speak before you think Chris? I'm certain Mr Kennedy will be sick of your constant exclamations by now. Perhaps if you can contain your steroidal rantings for a moment I may be able to explain my little set-up here" Wesker flicked the series of switches and one by one, a set of floodlights illuminated the ceiling above the gantry. A large glass tank spanned the entire length and width of the room. The bright lights cast a reflection on the shiny glass making it impossible to see what was inside.

"Haven't we been a busy little bee"? Chris said sarcastically. "So what's in there? Some more mutated sharks? Or are you just showing us your private swimming facilities"?

Wesker opened his mouth but; whatever he said was lost in the sound of the large metal door crumpling.

"KENNEDY"! Krauser burst into the room. Leon, forgetting all about the gun that was trained on him reached for his magnum, it was only when he heard the click of Wesker releasing the safety catch that he remembered. Krauser was standing in the ruined doorframe breathing heavily. Instead of a left arm he now had what resembled a large organic spear like appendage. It was almost as long as Krauser was tall and had sharp points at either end as well as a large spike at the elbow. It shone with blood and mucus and the skin around it was enlarged, Krauser's veins and capillaries clearly visible. Krauser was staring at him, a predatory smile spreading across his face.

"You're mine Comrade" He spat. Leon heard a gunshot and saw that Chris had taken advantage of Krauser's distraction and had a pot shot at Wesker. The other man had ducked with what could only be described as inhuman speed. He deftly flipped over the gantry railing and landed neatly in front of Chris.

"So be it Jack" Wesker drawled. "You may have your boy toy. Do with him what you wish but I refuse to lose vital research data. That's why Mr Redfield here will be my own personal project"

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart Leon" Krauser smirked as he raised his arm above his head. "Now, witness the power"! Krauser dived for Leon with lightning speed. Leon managed to roll away but only just. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Chris trying his best to attack Wesker who was dodging each of his heavy blows easily. Leon knew that he couldn't worry about his partner now. If he was going to beat whatever it was that Krauser had turned into, he was going to have to focus. By the way Krauser was moving, it seemed that his lightning fast moves weren't constant. His new addition seemed powerful but conversely seemed to slow him down quite a lot. Leon knew he was going to have to wait for Krauser to attack and then counter quickly whilst he was 'recovering'. He waited for Krauser to lunge forward and quickly fired, aiming directly for the mutated arm. If he could take the arm out Krauser would be, for all intents and purposes, unarmed and Leon would have the upper hand. The bullet however, despite its purported armour piercing properties merely ricocheted off Krauser's arm and embedded itself in the command console. Krauser smirked and flexed the arm. The spike in his elbow began to split and a series of spines unfurled from it. The spines fanned out and Leon could see that they were coated in some sort of sticky film that hardened as they fanned out forming a wing like membrane.

"You're mine now Kennedy" Krauser said as he advanced. "I'm going to make sure you burn in hell" He stalked around Leon, circling him like a wolf preparing to attack. With every step, he moved closer and closer to the tank in the corner. In his peripheral vision Leon could see Chris being flung through the air by Wesker. He heard Chris land heavily before cursing and leaping back to his feet. Leon turned his focus back to Krauser and could see a stirring in the water in the tank. Krauser, with his back to the tank, hadn't noticed. All Leon needed to do was keep him talking.

"This is all a bit excessive considering you don't like the fact I'm gay" He said, withdrawing his knife from the holster by his shoulder and holding it in an attack position. He had to make Krauser think that he was just biding his time.

"I'm surprised they haven't put you behind a desk yet" Krauser spat. "You're not fit to do the job you do Kennedy. Surely this is a man's job"? He snorted as he continued to back up. "I used to respect you and look at you now" He said disgustedly. There were ripples in the top of the water now as the tips of the creature's tentacles broke it.

"That's rich coming from someone who has a bloody mess for an arm" Leon replied with a derisive snort. Krauser chuckled and flexed the membrane.

"You and I both know why the Government took Sherry away," He taunted. Leon flashed a hurt look on his face, knowing that's what Krauser would be expecting. Krauser grinned proudly. "They didn't want to leave a child in the corrupted hands of a filthy-" The remainder of Krauser's insult was cut off as he was grabbed around the neck by one of the tentacles that had slithered down the side of the tank. He tried to twist in its grip to see what was attacking him but was subdued by more tentacles winding over his normal arm and over his chest. He lashed out violently with his mutated arm only to have it crushed by yet more tentacles. His eyes went wide with fear as the tentacles lifted him off his feet and started to drag him back into the tank. Leon kept his eyes on Krauser, watching as the tentacles squeezed him harder and harder until he started to wheeze.

"Leon…help…me…" were the last words Krauser said before he disappeared into the depths of the tank. Leon watched as the surface of the water slowly settled. He jumped, startled as a large spurt of blood broke the surface of the water with such force that some of it splattered onto the ceiling. It came back down again in the form of a red rain that pattered onto the water and floor for a few seconds before finally the water returned to its murky calm and Leon knew that Krauser was dead.

He turned back to the fight that was still ongoing between Chris and Wesker. Chris was still trying his best to throw punches and kicks. His face was bloody and bruised from the punches that Wesker had obviously been able to land in their short melee. Wesker grabbed hold of Chris by the neck and threw him against the lab wall, holding him there as he started to squeeze the life out of him. Chris struggled in the other man's grip, kicking out and trying to tear his fingers off his throat. Leon grabbed his magnum and fired, watching as the bullet lodged itself in Wesker's right arm. Wesker dropped Chris and turned around to face him.

"Pesky rat" Wesker spat, showing no signs of pain. "Krauser was supposed to take care of you" His left arm hit out, catching Chris squarely in the jaw as he tried to take advantage of the sudden distraction and sneak up behind him. Chris groaned in pain and spat a mouthful of blood at the other man. Wesker, moving like lightning, elbowed Chris in the stomach. The force lifted Chris off the floor before dropping him heavily. "Damn you both" He snarled as Leon fired another shot. He dodged easily and kicked Chris in the shins as he lay on the floor. He pulled out his handgun and aimed it at Leon. "I tire of these parlour games. Chris, you're still the disappointment you always were. Perhaps one day you will prove yourself to be a worthy adversary" Keeping the gun aimed at Leon, he pulled a small remote from his coat pocket. "I'm giving you five minutes to escape this facility. A sporting chance I think you'll agree. As for your little friend, well, he won't be so lucky"

Wesker spun on his heel and the next thing Chris heard was two gunshots accompanied by the sound of a body hitting the floor. Wesker leapt upwards and Chris heard him land on the gantry before the sound of footsteps moving quickly across the metal indicated that he'd made his escape. Chris got to his feet as quickly as he was able. He hauled his bleeding and abused body over to where Leon lay crumpled on the lab floor. A steady stream of blood was oozing from his left thigh and he had his hands wrapped around his stomach.

"My stomach…" Leon whispered.

"I know, I know" Chris fought to stay calm. He'd been through all that shit with the mansion and the crazy goings on in Antarctica and he'd managed to keep his cool so he was damned if he was going to go to pieces now. "We need to get out of here"

"Get the USB…" Leon replied through gritted teeth. He forced his body into a sitting position and with Chris' help got to his feet. The pain in his stomach was intense, far worse than when Annette Birkin had shot him back in Raccoon. He watched as Chris hurried to the command console and yanked the USB stick from the drive before shoving it into one of his pockets. Leon meanwhile, tapped out a hasty message on his PDA.

"There's a first aid kit here" Chris called out, holding up a green plastic box that he'd found by the console. He ran back to Leon and yanked the kit open. There wasn't much in it aside from a few bandages with dressing pads attached. He ripped open the packages until he came across the ones with the biggest pads.

"I think I'm going to faint…" Leon said thickly, swaying on his feet. Chris grabbed hold of him and gently but firmly forced him onto the floor. He lifted Leon's top that was becoming worriedly saturated with blood. He pressed one of the dressing pads to the wound and secured it there by winding the bandage around his stomach. Leon's face was a deathly white colour and his eyes looked bleary and unfocused. Chris worked quickly, adding another bandage, ever aware of the ticking time limit. There was none of the usual flashing lights and female voices warning that the facility was about to blow but Chris knew Wesker enough to know that his threat was far from idle. He quickly glanced at his watch; they'd been there two minutes already.

"Don't faint" Chris ordered, pulling Leon's top down over the bandaged wound. He didn't have time to bandage his partner's thigh and what he'd done with his stomach would have to do. "I've never lost a partner and I wanna keep that record now let's go"

"You try…being shot…" Leon argued as Chris helped him back to his feet. He shook his head to try and clear his vision. His thigh was throbbing horribly, his stomach even more painful.

"Maybe later. Now come the fuck on"! Chris replied. "You've done this once before and you can do it again" His mind moved quickly, plotting their escape. The only exit he knew was the hole that led back to the cave. They'd had to rappel down to get in but there was no way Leon would be up to climbing. Chris remembered that the ladder was only half destroyed so in theory they could get halfway up using the ladder. There wasn't time to think about it too much, they had to get there first. Chris turned to his partner whose eyes were clouded with pain. He was groaning softly and looking wobbly on his feet. There was nothing for it; he was going to have to carry his partner to their escape route. He caught Leon just before his consciousness slipped away. Chris knew a fireman's hold would risk aggravating the stomach wound so he hooked his arm underneath Leon's knees and hoisted him into his arms. His shoulder screamed in pain but he did his best to ignore it. His right eye was swelling from one of Wesker's many hits, slightly obscuring his vision and every single one of his muscles cried out for rest. Chris pushed past the pain and started to run, heading straight for the lab door that was now warped and twisted from Krauser's sudden reappearance.

He ran down the corridor, breathing heavily. He could feel how cold Leon's skin was against his arms and knew that his partner's blood loss was beginning to affect his body temperature. He knew that Leon wouldn't have long if he didn't get him to a hospital soon. He gently propped him up against the wall as he stared up at the ladder. There'd been more of it intact than what he'd remembered. He could see that it went at two thirds up before ending in a mess of twisted metal. His problem was how he was going to climb up the ladder and still have hold of his unconscious partner at the same time. He was going to need a harness of some sort. His hands moved to the black leather belt around his waist. It wasn't ideal and was almost certainly a dumb idea but it was all he had. He dropped to one knee and undid Leon's belt before pulling the younger man to his feet and propped him against the wall. Leon started to slump downwards so Chris quickly pressed his own back against Leon's front, using his hands blindly, he threaded the ends of Leon's belt through the two loops on the back of his own combats and refastened the belt. He reached behind him and pulled Leon's arms over his shoulders, wincing as the dead weight fell against his injured right shoulder. He pulled Leon's wrists together and secured them with the black leather belt. It wasn't ideal and he had to hope that his belt loops would hold. He'd be trained to make do with what he had and he'd done just that. He shifted Leon's dead weight on his back until he was hanging comfortably and slowly started to climb the ladder.

The climb was hard and awkward. Leon's weight was putting a strain on his aching muscles and he still had no idea what to do when he got to the top of the ladder. He could see it clearly ahead of him as well as the hole a teasing couple of metres away from the twisted and scorched end of the ladder. He climbed onwards until he reached it and wondered what the hell he was going to do next.

"Agent Redfield"? Chris looked up to see someone leaning over the hole. The mysterious stranger was wearing a white hood with a reflective visor covering their face. It was only the voice that gave away the stranger's sex. Chris briefly wondered if this was going to be Wesker's final kick in the teeth but he realised that whilst he was getting the first aid kit, Leon was arranging back up in the form of a clean up crew.

"I've got Agent Kennedy with me" Chris called up to the man. "He's badly wounded, two gunshots"

The man nodded and threw a rope down the hole. Chris grabbed hold and felt the rope pull as he was hauled up. When he emerged from the hole he could see that the cave was full on people dressed in white boiler suits, all wearing the same white helmet. Two of them had red crosses on the breast of their suits and it was these two that ran forward, hurriedly releasing Leon from the belts and lifting him onto a spinal board. Chris fell to his hands and knees, exhausted. He was helped to his feet by another suit-wearing medic who started asking him questions. Chris however, could only focus on the spinal board and the two medics that were busily working on Leon. They'd strapped an oxygen mask around his face and were now lifting the spinal board.

"I need to go with him," Chris said, ignoring the flurry of questions that were still being fired at him. The medic placed a firm hand on his left shoulder and tried to haul him in the opposite direction. Chris pushed him aside and strode towards the medics who were now carrying Leon away. It occurred to him that the five minutes had long expired and there'd been no explosion. It had all just been another one of Wesker's mind tricks. If it wasn't for his exhaustion or his concern over Leon's condition, Chris knew he would be fuming. He watched, as Leon was loaded into a waiting ambulance. He climbed in alongside them, waiting for someone to tell him to get out. He was surprised when one of the medics simply sat him down and allowed him to watch as they worked on Leon, trying to save his life.

END OF CHAPTER FIVE.


	6. Chapter 6

Notes:- And here we have Chapter Six! Thanks cookiehour for your pointers. I would really appreciate another review or a quick PM if you know how to do paragraph breaks. I have them in the original Word document but when I upload it they disappear.

The Facility – Chapter Six

A dull throbbing ache brought Chris back to reality. He didn't remember going to sleep but he sure as hell didn't want to open his eyes. When he finally did he saw that he was in a sterile white room, which meant only one thing, he was in hospital. Chris sat up in his bed and saw that he was wearing a white hospital gown. His right arm was bundled up in a sling and he could feel the soft padding of bandages over his right shoulder underneath the gown. His entire face ached and he knew that it would be quite badly swollen.

He was in a side room alone. Was that the way healthcare worked in Spain or was it because only he had survived? He threw off the bed sheets and twisted round, shivering a little as his bare feet came into contact with the cold tiled floor. He fought the urge to gag when he got a nose full of sterile hospital smell. He'd always hated hospitals. He'd spent a lot of time in them as a kid for various broken bones and then, of course, the dark day when he'd been told that both of his parents had been killed in a car crash. He stood up on slightly uneasy legs, wondering how long he'd been asleep for. There was no clock or calendar in his room so it was impossible to tell. He figured that had he been in a coma he would've probably been in intensive care or at least watched but as he crept out of his room no medical staff came running. He moved slowly down the hallway feeling disorientated. The signs on the wall were all in Spanish so it was hard to tell where he was going. The bandages on his shoulder were itchy and the sling was just annoying. His hospital gown rustled as he walked but at least it wasn't one of those ones that showed your ass. Not that Chris would've cared anyway. He had a great ass. He wondered if he could find Leon by sheer determination. Hospitals were usually big places and there was a high chance that he would be discovered and ordered back to his bed before he could find his partner. That was, unless his partner was in the morgue. Chris shuddered and shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking stuff like that. Besides, Leon was tough, there was no way he could be dead.

He checked clipboards hanging outside every door he walked past until finally he found the name he was looking for. He had a quick check around to see if the coast was clear before he slipped into the room quietly. The room was exactly the same as his had been except the person in it was a lot more ill. Leon lay on his back, the crisp white sheets pulled up to his chest. He was hooked up to various machines that created their own symphony of noises. Bags of liquid hung on metal stands dripping liquid through a tube that went into Leon's right hand. The thing that shocked Chris the most however, was the thick tube that went down his throat. It meant that Leon was alive but only just. A machine was breathing for him. There was a chair next to the bed and Chris sat down on it, hissing slightly as the cold easily penetrated the thin material of his gown.

"You're not supposed to be here," A gentle voice said from the doorway. Chris turned around to see Dennis standing there. It was the first time Chris had seen him wearing anything but a suit. He was dressed casually in black jeans and an expensive looking tan v-necked sweater. He had a plastic cup of coffee in his hands. "You should be in bed resting," He added as he crossed the room and proffered the cup. "You probably need this more than I do right now"

"How is he"? Chris took the cup and nodded towards Leon. He inwardly cursed as the absurdity of the question. It was pretty obvious to anyone that Leon was in a bad way.

"They're not telling me much" Dennis admitted. "I keep getting told that it's too early to tell. In my experience that means they don't want to give us false hope" He sighed deeply. "He's undergone surgery to remove the bullets that were lodged in his abdomen and thigh and they were removed successfully. That's all they've told me. Oh and, if anyone asks, I'm his Uncle"

Chris nodded and sipped from the plastic cup. The coffee was still hot and scalded his mouth but he barely felt it. He stared at the motionless figure in the bed. Leon had been a jerk to him from the day they'd first met but, over time, Chris had grown to respect him for everything he'd been through. Seeing him like this after all that was like some cruel joke. He half expected Leon to suddenly sit up and spit some acidic comment about how Chris was stupid for believing he'd be so unprofessional as to be comatose. He jumped when he felt a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

"You should rest" Dennis quietly suggested. "I'll let you know if anything changes. I think it's a good sign that he made it out of surgery" He gave Chris' shoulder a gentle but meaningful squeeze. Chris stood up and wordlessly handed the coffee back to Dennis. He'd come in to this room expecting to feel better, to feel safe in the knowledge that Leon was alive but, with Leon's machines and Dennis' words, he actually felt worse.

Chris managed to stay in his bed for roughly twenty-four hours before he decided that he'd had enough. He hated being forced to stay in his bed and the food was beyond dire. The nurses didn't speak very good English and the only one who did was a crotchety tempered witch. What did it for him however, was the smell. The horrible, invading bleach like smell that attacked his nostrils whenever he opened the door. It reminded him of comforting his sister whilst his parents were away in another part of the hospital. Another part that they couldn't go. Dying. And now it reminded him of seeing Leon.

He shrugged off his blankets and clambered out of bed. He removed his sling and stretched his arm out. His shoulder was still quite painful but it was nothing that he couldn't deal with. He found his clothes stowed away in a small cupboard by the side of his bed. His top was clean but still had the hole where Krauser's knife had penetrated the material. He dressed quickly and slipped out of his room, grateful for the absence of medical staff once again. It crossed his mind to go and see Leon before he left but he didn't want to risk being spotted by a member of staff.

He found the exit quickly enough and flagged down the first taxi he saw. The driver raised an eyebrow questioningly and Chris proceeded to explain in what was a mixture of very bad and slightly made up Spanish where Leon's house was. His luck was in yet again as the driver seemed to understand and sped away from the hospital. Chris didn't look back.

Chris tried his best to ignore his feelings of guilt as he let himself into the house. He knew that he should've stopped by Leon's room on his way out but his need to escape the confines of the hospital had far outweighed that. It wasn't like he was leaving Leon all alone. He had Dennis there and Chris knew that Dennis would keep him up to date with his partner's condition. Chris strolled into the lounge area and surveyed the room. He'd frequently been in the house when Leon hadn't been around but it seemed different somehow. Leon wasn't just out shopping or at the office. He was lying in a hospital bed, possibly dying.

Chris shook his head. He didn't want to think like that. What he needed was a good old distraction. He decided to be helpful and gather a bag of Leon's things for Dennis to take to the hospital. Not only would it distract him it would also make him feel better for deserting his partner. Chris climbed the stairs and let himself in to Leon's bedroom. He'd only been in once before and the shrine like tidiness was a little overwhelming. The cream carpet beneath his feet was plush and spotlessly clean. The room was just like the others in the house in that it didn't give much away about its owner. The black metal-framed double bed took up most of the space and had matching pine chests of drawers at either side of it. There was a large wardrobe in the corner and a soft armchair opposite to that. The armchair sat beside a pair of French doors. Chris could clearly see a balcony beyond them. He smiled as he imagined Leon sitting in that chair, probably with a mission brief, reading it as a gentle breeze came through the doors. He wandered over to one of the chests of drawers, pausing as he wrapped his hand around the handle. He wasn't being invasive. He had no idea where Leon kept his pyjamas and needed to organise some for him, that was all. He opened the first drawer and found a number of skin and hair products. He rummaged through them, thinking about Leon's perfect hair and his equally perfect skin. He thought back to his own basic well-used pot of hair gel with the slightly gummed up lid. He hadn't found a bag yet but grabbed a tub of hair wax and placed it on the bed. He figured Leon would like something for his hair even if he couldn't use it right away.

The second drawer revealed what he was looking for, clothes. There wasn't many and they were mostly black or navy blue and seemed to largely consist of the fitted t-shirts his partner seemed so fond of wearing. Chris delved deeper into the drawer, hoping to find some pyjama pants or shorts. He tossed the t-shirt aside idly; he'd sort them out later. His eyebrows raised in surprise as he came across the very last thing he expected to find. Leon's RPD uniform. He picked it up and held it aloft simply to check that it was actually real. The top was largely intact and smelt freshly laundered. Chris stared at the white RPD lettering that was emblazoned across the chest plate. There was a small ragged hole just under the right armpit. Chris poked his finger through it. It was obviously where he'd been shot. He wondered why the hell Leon would've kept something like that. The first thing he'd done when he'd got clear of the mansion and Raccoon was burn his S.T.A.R.S outfit. Chris folded the shirt back up as neatly as he could and put it back in the drawer. As he did so his hand brushed against something solid. He felt all the way to the back of the drawer and discovered what the something was as he pulled out a silver photo frame. Chris flipped it over and stared at the image it held. A small blonde girl was grinning at the camera in front of a wooden sign with 'miniature golf' carved into it. Leaning casually against the sign with his hand on the girl's shoulder was Leon. Chris stared at the celluloid image of his partner. Leon was smiling at the camera. It was a casual, easygoing sort of smile that said he was happy and relaxed. It looked strangely odd pasted onto the face of someone that Chris had been sure was actually incapable of smiling. It was a different side to his partner, a side that was most likely still there but hidden under a well-practised cold façade. Chris put the photo back into the drawer and closed it quickly. He'd wanted to learn more about his partner but not this way. The shirt and the photo exposed Leon all too painfully, almost as if he was standing right in front of him totally naked. Chris grabbed the hair wax and left the room, taking care to close the door behind him. He'd shove some of his own clothes into a bag for Leon or grab whatever was in the washing machine.

A loud trill almost made him fall down the stairs. The phone in the hallway was ringing. He hurried over to it, staring at the black plastic receiver as he wondered whether or not to answer it. He left it too long however as the ringing stopped at the answer phone clicked on.

'Leon Kennedy. Leave a message'.

Chris couldn't help but grin at that. That was Leon all over. Straight to the point. The answer phone bleeped and Dennis' voice came through the little speaker.

"Mr Redfield. I don't think that I'm wrong in guessing you're there. So if you would be so kind as to pick up the phone I would greatly appreciate it"

Chris gulped and picked up the receiver. Dennis sounded pissed.

"I'm here"

"I hope you know that the hospital are very displeased with your disappearing like that," Dennis reprimanded. Judging by the background noises, he was still at the hospital. "You've been discharged against medical advice"

"I guessed as much" Chris replied with a shrug. He didn't really care about the whole 'AMA' thing. He'd done it before and lived to tell the tale. He licked his lips and swallowed hard, trying to work up to courage to ask after Leon. He knew that he wouldn't be able to deal with the answer if it was bad.

"I'm leaving for the office now and in an hour's time I expect you to be there" Dennis continued, his voice slightly softer now but still matter of fact. "We have some things we need to discuss"

Chris nodded even though he knew Dennis couldn't see. All of a sudden, he didn't really feel like talking. Why did Dennis need to see him so urgently?

"You'll be glad to know that Leon woke up shortly after I discovered your escape. He's still in a lot of pain obviously but the doctor is much more confident about his condition. He's expect to make a full recovery"

"I FUCKING KNEW IT"! Chris suddenly yelled in a pure outburst of relief. He was glad that the phone was cordless as it was likely that it would've been yanked from the wall socket at that very moment. "Didn't doubt it for a second" He said triumphantly.

"Of course" Dennis replied smoothly. "I'll see you in an hour" He added, stressing the 'see you' before hanging up. Chris replaced the receiver back in its cradle. He felt as if a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. Whatever this meeting with Dennis was about he could deal with it. Leon was alright!

Leon stared up at the strip light above his bed. He was finally alone. As soon as he'd opened his eyes he'd been surrounded by a flurry of doctors and nurses fussing over him. As soon as they were content that he was going to be ok he was left to his own devices. It had taken him a while to remember exactly what had happened. He kept getting flashes of images in his mind, the lab, the corridors, the zombies, and Krauser's blood exploding from the tank, Wesker's cruel smile.

He shifted in the bed a bit, trying to find a more comfortable position. A large gauze pad covered his abdomen with a small drainage tube coming out from underneath it. Bandages tightly bound his thigh. They weren't causing him pain; just a dull ache, which he figured, was down to the strong painkillers that were being dripped into his arm. The only real pain came from his throat, which felt raw, no doubt from the breathing tube that he'd had when he woke up. His head felt fuzzy and muddled. How long had he been out? He shifted in the bed once more, still questing after that comfortable position.

"Should you be doing that"? A familiar voice came from the doorway. Leon glanced over to see Chris standing there, a smile plastered onto his idiotic face.

"Moving"? Leon questioned as Chris entered the room and sat down on the chair beside his bed. "I am rather fond of it yes"

"Y'know, I think I preferred you comatose" Chris joked. He held a carrier bag aloft, dangling it triumphantly. "Got you some grapes"

"Thank you" Leon blurted the words out before he'd even had a chance to think about them.

"Well they were half price cos they're kinda squashed…" Chris explained delving into the bag.

"Not the grapes" Leon replied firmly. "For saving my life," He added quietly. He looked away quickly and appeared to take an interest in the light above his bed. He heard Chris chuckle softly.

"Now that wasn't too hard to say was it"? He asked teasingly. Leon turned to look at him. He had a cheesy grin on his face and judging by how swollen his cheeks were, a mouthful of the grapes that were supposed to be for him.

"Pig" Leon said, shaking his head. Chris started to chew, some of the grape juice dribbling down his chin. He wiped it with the back of his hand and threw the bag of grapes onto Leon's bedside table. "How's your shoulder"? He asked.

"Hurts a bit but it's fine" Chris answered. "Don't you want to hear my amazing story of how I single-handedly rescued you from a burning lab"?

"I don't remember any fire" Leon replied firmly. He didn't really remember much, but he definitely knew that there'd been no fire.

"Well ok…so maybe it wasn't a towering inferno or anything…but it was still pretty cool" Chris helped himself to the glass of water that was beside Leon's bed. "Ok…so…Wesker's running for his life and I'm in the middle of the lab. You're on the floor bleeding out so I grab a first aid kit…"

"I was conscious for that part" Leon interrupted. "And Wesker wasn't exactly running scared" He corrected.

"Oh he was scared" Chris said in an off-hand manner. Obviously not deterred, he continued. "Anyway…there I am, practically performing field surgery when this alarm goes off saying that we've got five minutes to get out of the place or it'll blow! I fling you over my shoulder and run out of the lab…I've got zombies chasing me…Wesker could be round any corner…" Chris stopped suddenly when he saw Leon wincing in pain, a strange noise coming out of his mouth. Was he actually laughing?

"Stop it…stop it…" Leon pleaded, hunched over in pain. "It hurts to laugh…"

"Sorry" Chris said sheepishly. He couldn't help but grin. He was so relieved that Leon was going to be ok that he was pretty sure nothing could ruin his mood. Not only had he survived yet another hellish encounter with Albert Wesker, the whole 'adventure' seemed to have strengthened his relationship with Leon. He snaked his hand through the bars of the bed and brushed it over Leon's, careful to avoid his IV. Leon didn't shove it away. He sank back onto his pillows, his eyes closed. Chris could've stayed there indefinitely but a quick glance at the wall clock told him that he had to leave. "I've gotta go and meet Dennis. He wants to see me at the office"

"Probably to debrief" Leon replied without opening his eyes. "Nothing to worry about" He added quietly. "Sleepy anyway…"

Chris made sure to close the door quietly on his way out.

"Chris how's the shoulder"? Dennis seemed chirpy as Chris walked into his office. There was a small silver tray on his desk with a plain brown teapot and two cups. A little jug of milk stood beside it. Chris stared at it as he took a seat in one of the comfy leather backed chairs.

"It's alright"

"Excellent, excellent" Dennis tapped at a few keys on his computer. The action reminded Chris of most of his doctor's appointments. Dennis turned away from his computer screen and leant back in his chair, watching Chris over the top of his glasses. "We'd like to thank you for the outstanding bravery and commitment that you've shown this agency" He said carefully. "I know that Leon is grateful for his efficient rescue…"

"Yeah, I've just seen Leon actually…" Chris interrupted. "I'm glad he's gonna be alright"

"As am I" Dennis continued. "Bearing that in mind" He leant forward, his elbows resting on the desk and his chin perched upon the tips of his fingers. "It's time that you were allowed to return to America to recuperate in familiar surroundings"

Chris frowned slightly and wondered what the hell Dennis was talking about until his words sunk in. He'd actually almost forgotten that he wasn't in America. Although Leon hadn't been the most welcoming of hosts, his place was starting to feel like home. He hadn't realised but he didn't particularly want to go home. At least not yet.

"I want to stay here," Chris said. He wasn't really sure why he wanted to stay so much but he had a feeling that it was something to do with Leon.

"I'm afraid it's not really a case of what you want Chris" Dennis replied with a slight edge to his voice. "My superiors believe that you have provided the service we needed and, for want of a more eloquent way of putting this, you're now surplus to requirements," He explained. "The government are no longed prepared to subsidize your living allowance"

"Hold on a second" Chris was confused. "You're telling me that I have a living allowance"? He blinked. Since when was he getting free money from the government and why hadn't anyone bothered to tell him? He figured that since Leon was putting him up, the only money he needed was for his food. Leon however, seemed to have been taking care of that. Or at least, that's what he thought. There was always food in the fridge and that was as far as Chris had thought about it.

"The government has been providing you with a small living allowance since your arrival" Dennis continued, one eyebrow raised, almost as if he was amused.

"So it's in my bank account now"? Chris asked incredulously. His eyes suddenly narrowed. "Can you take it away or can I keep what you've already given me"? He made a mental note to check his bank balance at the next possible opportunity.

"The point is Chris" Dennis said smoothly, obviously choosing to ignore Chris' questions. "The government is only prepared to pay for your flight home if you leave tomorrow morning"

"I can't leave" Chris said firmly. He wasn't sure why he was being so adamant. After all, he hadn't even spoken to Claire since he'd left and he was pretty sure that nobody was feeding his goldfish Maverick and Goose.

"I can assure you Chris, there's really no need for you to stay" Dennis said, calmly pouring himself a cup of tea. He proffered the teapot to Chris who shook his head and waved it away. "You don't have to worry about the debriefing. I'm sure Leon has all the required information to bring us up to speed as soon as he's recovered" He took a sip from his cup and smiled. "What I suggest you focus on now is getting yourself better. Go home, take some time off and inform Mr Burton that the BSAA will be receiving its funding. Despite the odd hiccup my superiors are satisfied with how you've handled yourself"

"That's great and all…" Chris scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "But what if I refuse to leave"?

"Well, obviously we can't forcibly remove you from the country" Dennis answered. He placed his teacup on the desk and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "But we wouldn't pay for your journey home. You would no longer be considered as working for us and you would no longer have access to this building or any of our equipment. In our eyes you would simply be another civilian"

"Hey that's fine by me" Chris shrugged simply. "I've had enough crazy shit to last me a while" He grinned. "I think I'll take that option"

"Indeed" Dennis nodded. He stood up and held out his hand. "Then all I have left to say is that it's been a pleasure working with you and I'd hope to do so again"

Chris stood up and shook Dennis' hand before leaving the office. As he walked down the seemingly endless corridors of the government building he couldn't help but feel relieved. He'd known all along that they couldn't make him leave the country but he'd had a little concern in the back of his mind that they might no longer allow him to see Leon. He was, after all, the whole reason why he was prepared to thumb his nose at Dennis' offer of a plane ticket home, risk the lives of his goldfish, the wrath of his sister and a couple of hundred bucks on a plane ticket to America.

He just wished he knew why.

Three weeks passed and Chris was still in Spain. He'd phoned Barry and told him the good news about the funding. He'd phoned Claire and she'd asked him lots of annoying questions about Leon and he'd phoned Jill who'd promised to take good care of Maverick and Goose. He'd then decided that it was probably best to stop making international calls since it was Leon's phone bill after all.

He'd been making regular visits to the hospital to see Leon and initially it had seemed that his partner was a new man. He'd been chatty and almost friendly, telling Chris that the doctors had been pleased with his progress and that he was doing well in physical therapy. The last couple of visits had been a different thing entirely. The younger man had been more like his old self, cold and distant. Chris wasn't about to be deterred, figuring that it was probably because he was bored of being stuck in hospital. He'd phoned last night and said that he'd been coming home the following afternoon. Chris had offered to pick him up but Leon had rather flatly refused saying that he'd get a taxi or get Dennis to get him. Chris decided that he was going to have a home-cooked meal waiting for him. It was a great idea except for the fact that the only things that Chris knew how to make were things like beans on toast or fried breakfast. He knew that Leon would want something a little more special after being forced to eat hospital food for three weeks. There was only one thing for him to do. He picked up the phone and called Claire.

Leon handed the taxi driver his money and ignored his offer of help to the front door. He'd healed well in the last three weeks and was now able to walk with crutches. His stomach wound had healed over and he'd been left with a long, thick scar just to the left of his belly button. The doctors were confident that after a few weeks and some more physical therapy on his leg, he would be walking normally again.

He limped up to the front door, fumbling in the pocket of his sweat pants for his house keys. Chris had been a regular visitor at the hospital, bringing him books and clothes and at first Leon had been glad to see him. As time passed however, his constant presence had becoming annoying. Leon didn't even understand why Chris was still around anyway. He wasn't really needed for the debriefing that was bound to take place and he knew that the government wouldn't be paying for him to stay when he wasn't doing any work. Whenever Leon had asked him about it, Chris had been cagey and quickly changed the subject.

"Welcome home"! Chris' voice bellowed out loudly. Leon closed the door behind him and made his way over to the kitchen. Chris was at his side in an instant, holding an arm out to help him.

"Don't," Leon said quietly.

"I bet you're glad to be home" Chris replied brightly. A big, goofy grin was plastered across his face. There was slightly spicy smell in the air with a stronger smell of burning on top of it.

"What are you burning this time"? Leon asked. His tone was a little more acidic than he intended but Chris didn't seem to notice. He was too busy stirring the contents of a pan on the hob.

"It's ok, it's not burnt" Chris sounded relieved. "I got the recipe from Claire. Old Redfield family recipe! Hope you like your curry spicy"! He stared to rummage in the cupboards for clean plates.

"I'm not really hungry" Leon said. He took a seat at the kitchen table and pulled a paper bag out of the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. He opened it up and took out a box of strong painkillers.

"I thought you might want something halfway decent after eating all that hospital crap" Chris slapped a healthy serving of the orangey-red curry onto one of the plates and placed it in front of Leon. "And I bet you can't take those on an empty stomach"

"Fine" Leon picked up his fork and loaded it with some of the food. Despite a slight underlining burning taste, it actually tasted quite good. Chris sat down at the table opposite him, his own plate piled high. The older man didn't seem to feel as awkward and uncomfortable as he did. Leon ate slowly and quietly. It wasn't like he was ungrateful that Chris had saved his life or ashamed that he'd needed saving in the first place. For those first couple of weeks in the hospital he'd almost been looking forward to Chris' visits every couple of days but something had changed within him and he couldn't put a finger on what. It was times like this that he almost wished he had someone around who he could talk things through with. "Penny for them"? Chris suddenly spoke into the silence. Leon looked up from his plate, confused. "Penny for your thoughts" Chris explained through a mouthful of curry. "It's what my sister says"

"I'm just tired" Leon lied smoothly. "I need to see what's on that USB we retrieved from the facility. Do you have it"?

"Yeah. I kept it safe" Chris answered. He was concerned with how drawn and pale Leon looked and briefly wondered if Leon had actually been discharged from hospital or whether he'd discharged himself. He watched as the younger man pushed his plate away and struggled to his feet. It was obvious he wasn't going to get any further on the food front. He sighed deeply. "I'll get it for you"

Leon settled himself on the sofa, the laptop open on the coffee table in front of him. He was in process of going through the files that he'd downloaded to the USB stick. Chris was sitting in the armchair opposite him, flicking through a comic book.

"So" Chris spoke, startling Leon. "What was Wesker planning"? He asked in a hard voice that Leon hadn't heard since they'd first dealt with Wesker back at the facility.

"Well it doesn't make for pleasant reading" Leon replied. "From what I can gather from these reports he's been collecting virus samples. I don't know about you but I certainly recognise some of them…G Virus, T-Virus and Veronica"

"The T-Virus was responsible for the zombies back in Raccoon" Chris said with a grim expression on his face. "I dealt with Veronica in Antarctica" He paused as though he was going to explain but didn't. "Doesn't surprise me that the sick bastard is collecting them…"

"It seems like the facility was his own private research lab" Leon read from the computer screen. "He had a small staff of thirty doing his bidding" He paled suddenly when he came to the next page. "He's trying to achieve symbiosis"

"What"? Chris looked confused.

"He's been doing experiments to try and get the viruses to work alongside each other. Picking the best aspects of each one" Leon said. There was a sick, churning feeling in his stomach that he hadn't felt since that awful night back in Raccoon City. "It goes on to say that he's recently discovered a virus called Las Plagas. There's no info on it so I'm guessing this is his most recent work. He'd sent out a field agent to recover a sample but it doesn't say where from" He read on. "It looks like he was intending to modify it"

"Well at least we've put a stop to it" Chris said firmly. A dark and serious expression crossed his features. "I'd hate to think what would've happened if we hadn't have stopped him" The dark look became more intense. "I'm just sorry I didn't get a chance to put a bullet through his skull"

"What happened with this guy"? Leon asked before he could stop himself. He didn't make a habit of prying into other people's business but Chris looked so pained that he almost wanted to help. It was that same alien feeling that he'd felt when Chris had brought him breakfast in bed and he'd disposed of it, not wanting to hurt feelings.

"He was our Captain" Chris was staring straight ahead but not seeming to actual focus on anything, lost in his own past. "He led us into the Spencer Mansion and then he proceeded to backstab every last one of us for his own amusement. People died in that mansion Leon. My friends and team mates died horrible painful deaths because he's a twisted power hungry psycho" Chris stood up and headed for the stairs. "Mind if I use the hot-tub? I could do with a soak"

"Go ahead" Leon replied. He closed the laptop and watched as Chris left the room. He'd never known someone to speak so candidly about something so obviously personal and painful. He didn't know where it came from and he certainly didn't know why but all of a sudden he was glad that Chris hadn't gone back to America. And it scared the hell out of him.

END OF CHAPTER SIX.


	7. Chapter 7

Notes: - So here's Chapter Seven! Right off the bat I'm going to make an apology! There's Spanish later on in this chapter and I apologise if it sucks or is in anyway wrong. I did Spanish in high school but have never really used it so it's rusty at best.

Thanks to DamonWesker and YaoiGirly for your reviews!

The Facility – Chapter Seven

After that night, Chris marked difference in Leon. The younger man had become quiet and withdrawn. He preferred to spend most of his time at his laptop, typing away, a fixed look of concentration on his face. The only time he left the house was to attend his physical therapy sessions, which, at his own insistence, had been put up to three times a week. He made good progress and in the space of another three weeks had gone from using two crutches to only having a slight limp.

Chris decided the best thing for Leon to do was to get out and go somewhere other than his physical therapist's office. Leon was barely speaking to him at the moment and it was concerning. At least before he'd get the odd acidic comment but now he wasn't even getting that. He figured that if Leon could get some fresh air into him and have a bit of a laugh along the way then he might just lighten up a bit. Chris knew that his mind was probably on the impending debriefing but it couldn't hurt to take his mind off it.

"I thought we could go out today," He announced cheerfully as he came down to breakfast the next morning. Leon was already up and sitting at the table. His laptop was open once more and he was typing away. He barely looked up as Chris helped himself to a glass of juice. "I know you've been busy with the stuff for the debrief but one morning can't hurt," He closed the fridge door and leant against it. "And the walking will do your leg some good."

He saw Leon's shoulders tense as if he were biting back an insult or rude comment.

"If I say no you're going to bug me aren't you"? He finally asked, not looking up from his computer screen. Chris couldn't help but smirk at that. Leon might be all cold and distant at the moment but it didn't mean that the younger man didn't know him.

"Of course." He said. "Any suggestions for where we can go"?

"I know a place." Leon replied, sounding resigned.

* * *

It was a typical Spanish morning, bright and sunny and just the right temperature so that it was pleasantly warm as opposed to stiflingly hot. They'd walked into the older part of the town as Leon had suggested they visit a market. The market itself was in a large square surrounded by old, brown buildings that reminded Chris of baked clay. The buildings were close together and unlike the neat rows of streets he was used to back in America, seemed to be arranged higgledy-piggledy around the paved square with a hotchpotch of washing lines stretching between window to window over their heads.

The stalls were just as uneven as the buildings with the seller wares set out on tablecloths of various colours including stinging emeralds and bright ruby reds. Smells drifted into the square from the fruit stalls, an attractive citrus bouquet that made you want to buy what was on offer. The sellers were calling things out in Spanish, competing with each other for custom. The natives of the town were bustling about with purpose, the tourists standing around in awe at the riot of colours and sounds attacking their senses. There was a pavement café at the other end of the market with dainty white tables and chairs shaded by large yellow and red umbrellas. A few people were sitting at the tables, sipping coffee and nibbling cakes whilst watching the busy market.

"Good choice." Chris said, nodding encouragingly. He wasn't really into checking out the sights and sounds of foreign countries but even he could see the beauty in the market. They set off walking at a slow pace, strolling easily in-between the stalls. Chris stopped every so often to check out a seller's wares. Leon walked silently, barely looking at the stalls, a moody expression on his face.

The midday heat soon hit them. The tourists bustled off to their various hotels, no doubt looking forward to a dip in the swimming pool to cool off. The locals went about their business, obviously used to the heat. Chris started sweating in the three quarter length black shorts and green t-shirt Leon had bought him. Leon didn't seem to be similarly suffering, although he did go slightly pink in his grey sweat pants and black vest.

"It's getting really hot." Chris complained as they walked past another stall. He was glad that Leon was out and getting the exercise his leg needed but on the other hand his silence was getting to be quite annoying and very boring. Chris yanked his t-shirt off, wiping his sweaty body down with it before tucking it into the waistband of his shorts. He gave his armpits a quick cursory sniff and judged the smell to be suitably manly but slightly verging on needing a shower. He gave his muscles a little flex, as he always did when taking off his t-shirt, and grinning smugly when a nearby tourist eyed him up.

"What's USAP"? He heard Leon ask dully. Chris stopped grinning at the tourist and turned to regard his partner. He must've looked confused because Leon added. "On your arm." It took Chris a little while to clock on but he finally realised that Leon was talking about the tattoo he had on his right arm.

"It doesn't say USAP" Chris corrected huffily. "It says U.S.A.F. Y'know, as in the Air Force"? He said the last part proudly, puffing his chest out slightly and yeah; maybe he might've flexed his tattooed upper arm a bit too.

"Looks like it says USAP." Leon responded vaguely.

"Yeah well," Chris shrugged off the embarrassment. It hadn't been the first time someone had pointed that out. In fact, it seemed to be the general consensus that it said USAP but he wasn't about to admit that. "The guy who did it had a shaky hand. It's hard to do a decent tattoo in a fighter jet." He boasted. Obviously that wasn't the truth behind his ink. He'd sneaked a few beers into the barracks one night and him and a couple of other recruits decided it would be a good idea to cement their new friendship by getting tattoos. One of them had piped up that he was practically a professional tattooist and could do it if he had a needle and some ink. They'd used a needle from a sewing kit and Chris had swiped a bottle of ink from one of the other recruits. Chris had been the one who'd bravely rolled up his sleeve and gone first.

He'd sunk another couple of beers and braced himself on his bunk as his friend got to work. He hadn't realised quite how painful getting tattooed was but he sucked it up, figuring that the end result would be worth it. His 'tattooist' friend however not only had terrible handwriting, but also had a shaky hand. Consequently, the 'F' in USAF looked more like a 'P' and the whole tattoo gradually sloped downwards. There was no way in hell that he was ever going to admit that to anyone. Instead, he stretched casually and did a good old subject change. "Let's go get a drink at that pavement café."

Without waiting for a response, Chris hurried off in the direction of the café. Leon sighed deeply. He wasn't stupid. It hadn't taken him long to figure out the true reason behind his happiness at finding Chris in the house when he'd returned from hospital. He hated Chris when he first met him. He resented the fact that a partner had been forced upon him and Chris stood for everything he hated. Sure, he was good looking. He had a great body that he'd obviously worked hard for and he had deep brown eyes and thick brown hair that looked soft and inviting. It didn't take too much of an imagination to guess how it would feel to kiss those lips, touch that body and tug on that hair. Leon didn't doubt for a second that he could appreciate all that but still, the hatred he'd felt towards him had gone some way to cancelling that initial physical attraction out. He'd been attracted to guys he'd worked with before but he'd always managed to keep them at arms length by acting the jerk. They usually ended up either acting like a jerk back or giving up entirely and asking to work with someone else. Chris however, had been annoyingly stubborn.

He'd taken every single one of Leon's carefully chosen insults on the chin and still refused to go away. It was a frustrating situation. Leon could've cursed himself that night he'd gotten drunk on the brandy and spilled his guts about Sherry and Raccoon City. He'd let Chris in that night and that had made it so much harder for him to carry on pushing him away. He'd managed it though and Chris had still come back for more. When they'd been separated at the facility Leon knew that protocol dictated that he should've secured whatever information and samples he could, then got the hell out of there. Except he hadn't, he'd risked his life and taken on a trio of zombies with a damn biro to get back to Chris.

Chris had saved his life even though he was injured himself and that had made the older man rise quickly in Leon's estimations. And then that night three weeks ago when Chris had told him about his past with Wesker, it had made it all but impossible for Leon to continue dismissing him as a brainless, unfeeling oaf. He'd realised that his attraction to Chris had gone much further than physical and it had scared him. It scared him how easily he could feel so much so quickly for a relative stranger. He knew that he stood no chance with Chris and on the one hand he wanted the older man to go away and never darken his doorway again and on the other he wanted Chris to stay for as long as possible. He'd been so confused over the past few weeks and he'd realised that he was going to have to get over the fact that it was never going to happen and deal with it in his own way.

He limped over to the café and sat down whilst Chris disappeared inside and ordered them some drinks. He leant back in the slightly uncomfortable white plastic chair and let out a heavy sigh. There was a guy sat at a table across from him sipping his coffee and just watching the people go by. He was tall and lean with an athletic body, dressed casually yet smartly in dark trousers and a maroon open collared short sleeved shirt. His hair was long and jet black, hanging in loose waves around his tanned face. He looked up suddenly, his dark brown eyes locking onto Leon's. Usually Leon would've looked away but there was something drawing him to this man. He forgot all about his rule of ignoring the locals and smiled at him. A short, non-lingering smile but enough to let the other man know he was interested. Just as he expected, the man stood up and moved over to him, smiling warmly.

"Hola" He greeted. "Me llamo Marco, y tu"? He asked smoothly in a deep, rolling voice.

"Leon" Leon replied, nodding as Marco motioned to the empty seat. "Se habla Ingles"?

"Of course" Marco said in his divine Spanish accent. "I must say, your Spanish is very good"

It was a typical pick-up line, worthy of little to no merit. After all, Leon had only said one thing and he wasn't even sure it was grammatically correct. Usually he would've been giving this guy the brush off for his cheesy chat-up lines but this time he thought what the hell? The guy was interested and it seemed like a nice little distraction to forget about his hopeless situation with Chris.

Chris came out of the café struggling to balance two cups of coffee. It had been lucky that the person serving had spoken English. He scanned the tables for Leon and spotted him a short distance away deep in conversation with some long -haired stranger. Chris narrowed his eyes. Who the hell was that and how the hell had he gotten Leon to speak so animatedly? Chris was about to stalk over and demand to know what was going on but Leon and the stranger suddenly stood up and started to walk away. Leon was exaggerating his limp and the stranger reached out for him, putting his arm around his waist to support him. Leon didn't bat him away.

* * *

Chris leant back in the hot tub, a large glass of brandy in his hand. After he'd watched Leon go off with that stranger, he'd downed his coffee and marched straight back to the house. He wasn't even sure why cared so much. After all, Leon was entitled to go around with whomsoever he wanted. Chris took a sip from his glass, shuddering as the liquid hit the back of his throat. The thing that was bugging him the most about the whole situation was how animated Leon had been. It had taken that strange guy less than five minutes to get Leon chatting away with a smile on his face. Chris drank some more of the brandy. He'd been trying for days to get Leon to speak to him. He'd known him for over two months and not once had he seen the younger man as animated as he had been at the café.

He downed his glass and poured himself a fresh one from the bottle that he'd put beside the hot tub. After everything he'd done for Leon, it seemed like a bit of a smack in the face. It pissed him off and if he really thought about it he knew he should get on the first plane back to America. It was plainly obvious that Leon didn't need him anymore.

There was a loud bang and Chris jumped up. He grabbed the shorts he'd dumped by the side of the hot tub and yanked them on. He rushed back into the house dripping wet and discovered that the loud bang had obviously come from the front door being slammed as, standing in the hallway, was Leon looking somewhat worse for wear and being supported by another guy. This wasn't longhaired stranger from the pavement café but another man. Still tall, still tanned, but this time with short red spikes and muscles that could almost rival Chris'. Each arm was a riot of colour from the tattoos that snaked up and down them. He was wearing black jeans and a tight black vest and seemed to be just as drunk.

"Who the fuck are you"? Chris demanded, folding his arms across his chest. The stranger didn't seem at all intimidated. He looked at Chris admiringly and gave him a wink. Chris glared at him.

"This is Marco." Leon slurred, barely looking at Chris. He was leaning heavily against the stranger, one arm around his back, the other one across the man's front, stroking his chiselled stomach and dipping down into the waistband of his jeans.

"I'm Tony," The man corrected with a strong Alabama twang that momentarily reminded Chris of his old S.T.A.R.S buddy Forrest Speyer.

"Marco…Tony…whatever!" Leon attempted a shrug. "Bedroom's upstairs!" He added, trying to steer Tony in the direction of the stairs. Tony smiled smugly and allowed himself to be led.

"Hey, whatever you say Baby!" He replied, winking at Chris once more.

Chris watched them go up the stairs and shortly afterwards, heard Leon's bedroom door slam. He wanted to march straight up those stairs and barge into the bedroom and forcibly remove this Tony person from the house, perhaps giving him a few solid punches to beat the smugness out of him. Leon was, however, a grown man and certainly wouldn't thank him for doing something like that. Even if Chris didn't like the way that Tony had been looking at him. He wondered if Leon was even aware of what he was doing. As much as it annoyed him he knew he had no right to go marching up there and stop whatever was about to happen. Muttering curses under his breath, Chris turned on his heel and headed back for the hot tub deciding that the only thing he could was trying to forget about what he'd just seen and hope that the two of them wouldn't be loud.

* * *

Leon didn't surface from the bedroom until well after noon the next day. Chris knew that Tony wasn't with him because he'd heard him leave in the early hours. He frowned as he watched Leon limp towards the fridge and grab himself some juice. Chris wondered where this sudden change in his partner's behaviour had come from. It had kept him awake most of the night and finally he'd come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to work this one out on his own. Leon's sleeping around had just come out of nowhere and he would need help if he was going to figure out why. He gotten up way before Leon and had quietly phoned Dennis. The older man had been a little surprised to hear from him but as soon as Chris had laid out his concerns, Dennis had agreed to meet with him at the pavement café by the market.

"Don't forget you've got physical therapy in an hour." Chris said as Leon drained the contents of the juice carton before slumping into one of the chairs. There were dark circles under his eyes and his eyes themselves were bloodshot. Chris had a good idea of how the younger man would be feeling right about now.

"How could I forget"? Leon muttered as he left the kitchen. He'd left the carton on the kitchen counter top. Chris sighed heavily. The sooner he got to the bottom of this strange behaviour, the sooner he call Leon out on it and get things back to relative normality.

Chris stared at the coffee in confusion. He'd never seen anything like it before. There was no sign of the usual brown liquid that constituted a decent cup of java. Instead it seemed to be a cupful of white foam with some brown sprinkles on it. He'd arrived at the pavement café to find that Dennis had already ordered on his behalf. That was great and all if he had the remotest clue what he'd ordered. Dennis smiled as he sat down. He had one of those cups of froth too.

"Thanks for coming." Chris said as he stirred his coffee disconsolately. The spoon clinked against the sides of the cup and reminded him of how he used to drive his fellow S.T.A.R.S crazy by stirring his coffee for ridiculous lengths of time. He couldn't help but smile. It had always been worth it to see the look on Brad's face and the vein in Barry's forehead put in an appearance.

"Not a problem." Dennis replied. "I can fully understand your concern," He took a sip from his coffee and wiped the foam from his upper lip. "From what you've told me it seems that Leon isn't acting like himself at all."

"Yeah…he's kinda acting normal with me I guess…" Chris' happy reminisce was over and he was back in the present. "He's never been particularly friendly with me and he's always been the first to put me down but now it's like he's…he's not speaking to me at all if he can help it and then there's this thing with all these guys that I told you about on the phone. He brought a random stranger home last night and yesterday afternoon I saw him go off with some other guy. He came home wasted and didn't even seem to know who he'd brought back."

"Yes, that isn't like Leon at all." Dennis said thoughtfully.

"I don't know if I'm blowing this whole thing up," Chris continued. "He's got a right to bang who he wants to it's just it seems like a total 180 from the guy I know. I'm just confused is all."

"I understand your confusion," Dennis replied. He took another sip from his cup and appeared lost in thought for a moment. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened. I know you're aware with the problems Leon had with Jack Krauser."

"You are"? Chris considered trying a sip of his own cup of foam but decided against it. There was something about the foam that he didn't like. He didn't trust the way it moved.

"I know you've read his file," Dennis smiled slightly as Chris let out an uneasy chuckle. "When he first came to Spain he acted in a similar manner. It would seem that promiscuity is Leon's way of dealing with stressful situations. Eventually he stopped in his own time and returned to his normal self. I would suggest you talk to him but I know that it certainly didn't work for me."

"That figures" Chris replied. He played with the packet of brown sugar on his saucer. "It doesn't make sense though…that whole thing with the facility was weeks ago."

"Stress does funny things to people" Dennis countered. "My advice would be to just ride it out. As concerning and annoying as it is. I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you but Leon is very much a closed book. You can try and try to get something out of him but I can guarantee you that if he doesn't want you to know then you won't find out."

Chris nodded and thanked him. Shortly afterwards, Dennis made his excuses and hurried off, leaving Chris brooding over his cup of foam.

* * *

Chris spent the rest of his afternoon wandering around the market before coming across an American themed bar. He sunk a couple of beers had a large plate of chicken wings before heading back to the house. His meeting with Dennis had given him something to think about but he didn't like the idea of just sitting back and waiting for Leon to burn out. From what he'd already seen in Tony, the guys that Leon seemed to be picking up weren't ideal. He'd seen the bruises on Leon's arms and knew that Tony hadn't been gentle. He'd gotten close to Leon and saw him as one of his good friends. He cared for the guy as much as he cared for Barry or Claire's boyfriend Kevin Ryman and he didn't want to see him get hurt. On the walk back to the house he decided that he was going to have to sit down with Leon and talk it out. He didn't care if Leon wanted to hear it or not, he was going to make him listen. What was it called again?

An intervention! That's what Leon needed. Chris had had one of those himself. Not long after the Mansion incident and his rescue of Claire from Antarctica, he'd hit rock bottom. Exhausted from the constant worrying and the threat of Umbrella, he'd hit the bars hard and drunk himself into a stupor most nights. He'd woken up one afternoon to find Barry and Kevin standing over him. They'd forced him to shower and shave and had sat him down and made him see what his behaviour had been doing to himself and the people around him. He'd gotten back on track shortly after that day, hit the gym and gained a body he was proud of. Since it had worked so well for him, he figured that he should at least try it with Leon. If he could make the younger man see how many risks he was taking he could maybe get him back on track.

He rehearsed how he was going to handle it and had it down perfect as he got to the front door. Just as he was coming in however, it seemed that Leon was going out. He was dressed in tight black jeans, black boots and a tight black t-shirt. He smelt strongly of aftershave.

"Where are you going"? Chris asked as Leon pushed past him.

"Out." Leon responded, not even stopping. He stalked down the path as best as he could with his limp, and disappeared out of sight. His tone had reminded Chris of when Claire had hit her teens and starting acting out. It was kind of funny considering it was coming from a grown man as opposed to a teenage girl. He sighed deeply. Not only had he smelt the aftershave as Leon had walked past, he'd smelt the alcohol too. Without really thinking about it, Chris turned on his heel and decided that he was going to follow him.

* * *

"Back off. Not interested" Chris said for what felt like the hundredth time that night. He'd carefully followed Leon all the way into the town and to, judging by the amount of guys he was fighting off, a gay bar. He'd watched Leon make a beeline for the bar, sink a few shots before hitting the dance floor and, for want of a nicer way of putting it, pressing himself up against any guy who seemed remotely interested. Chris had kept a safe distance, sipping from a beer in a darkened corner of the bar. He'd had more than a few offers himself and, even though he wasn't interested, it was kind of nice to know he had options.

He knew he should just march across the dance floor and drag Leon home but that definitely wouldn't be appreciated. At least if he followed the younger man he could keep an eye on him and step in if it looked like he was getting into trouble. Leon was dancing with a guy a few metres away. The guy's hands were all over him and he was saying something into Leon's ear. He stepped back, his left hand lingering over Leon's buttocks before heading in the direction of the toilets. Leon continued to dance alone as the guy made his way to the toilet. Chris watched as the guy stopped just by the door to talk to someone else. What followed was swift and smooth but Chris still saw it. The guy had just been given a small bag containing white tablets. It looked like he was going to have to do his stepping in.

He dumped his beer on the bar top and, making sure Leon wasn't watching the toilets, followed the guy in there. He was standing by the urinals bragging to another guy who was dressed in nothing but a pair of tight white jeans. Judging by their accents they both seemed to be English.

"I've scored out there mate" Leon's guy was saying as he leant against the tiled wall. White jeans nodded emphatically, a grin spreading across his greasy features.

"You'll have to let me have a go when you're done. You've picked up a right hot piece there." White Jeans replied.

"Sure. Blondie's up for anything!" came the sleazy reply. "Might even convince him to take both of us on. Once he pops one of these babies he'll hardly be able to argue."

Chris moved like lightning. He might be big and muscled but that didn't mean he was slow. In seconds he had the sleaze ball up against the tiled wall by his throat.

"That's my boyfriend you're talking about!" He snarled into the scared man's face. White Jeans fled immediately, obviously no longer interested in getting involved with anything his friend was doing. Funny that.

"Listen mate, I can't help it if your boyfriend acts like a man whore." Sleazy spat into Chris' face. He was obviously completely terrified but doing his best not to show it.

"I wouldn't argue with me." Chris replied coolly. "I'd get the fuck out of this bar and pretend you've never been here tonight and as for these," He snatched the little bag out of the man's hand. "Let's flush these shall we"? He released the man and stalked over to the lone cubicle. He emptied the tablets into the toilet bowl and flushed before flinging the now empty bag onto the floor. The sleaze ball stared at him incredulously. "Well? Get the fuck out then." Chris said, taking a couple of steps towards him. The man mumbled something that could've been, and probably was, an insult before scuttling out of the toilets. Chris followed close behind and watched as he stalked straight out of the bar. He saw Leon watch the guy leave, an expression of confusion on his face. It took him roughly five minutes before he was dancing with the next guy. Chris went to the bar and ordered another beer. It looked like it was going to be a long night.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN.


	8. Chapter 8

Notes:- Here we are folks. The end of The Facility! Enjoy!

The Facility – Chapter Eight

Leon opened his eyes, his head pounding, his mouth dry. He sat up and it was then that he realised he had no idea where he was. The room was tiny and painted a horrible magnolia colour. The bed was made of cheap pine and the sheets looked and indeed smelt as if they needed a good wash. He lifted the blanket and saw that he was totally naked. There was a gentle snoring noise coming from next to him. Leon looked to his right and saw the naked body of a stranger. The man had his back to him and was snoring away. A layer of wiry black hair started at the nape of his neck and ended at his butt crack. Leon felt his stomach turn and he wasn't entirely sure that it was just his hangover.

He hauled himself out of bed and started limping around, picking up his clothes from the grimy navy blue carpet. He dressed quickly and briefly wondered whether or not to have a quick wash before he left. He decided against it, not wanting to wake the stranger up. He hurried over to the door as quickly as he could and made his escape, closing the door quietly behind him.

Luckily, he had an idea of where he was and how to get back home. It was the other side of the town, the less desirable part that tourists tended to stay away from. He had no idea what time it was but from the position of the sun in the sky and how hot it was, he guessed that it was about noon. As he walked along the streets, the missing pieces of the previous night began to slot into place. He'd gone to the club and picked up some guy who'd mysteriously disappeared shortly afterwards. After that he'd kissed a couple of other guys and messed around with them before going home with some Spanish guy whose name he wasn't sure he'd even got. He vaguely remembered the sex but it wasn't anything to write home about. The sex with Marco and Tony hadn't been exactly mind blowing either. In fact, if he really thought about it, he hadn't really got anything out of any of his recent liaisons. He'd simply laid back and taken what they had to give.

'I know why' A voice suddenly spoke up in the back of his mind. 'It's because they're not Chris' It added teasingly. Leon shook his head, ignoring the pain it caused, in an attempt to shut the voice up. That was hardly likely to be the solution. After all, he'd always known that there was no way he could have Chris. It was a simple fact and one that he'd gotten used to a while ago. No…it had to go deeper than that. He thought back to his life before Chris Redfield had become a part of it. After the Racoon City incident he'd had a couple of relationships with guys, neither of them lasting very long. Then he'd done his Secret Service training and there'd just simply been no time for any sort of hook up, casual or otherwise. After that had been the whole mess with Krauser and his job in Spain. He'd slept with Dennis shortly after that and had gone to the gay bars picking up hot guys and taking them back to his place for one wild night. He'd stopped doing it eventually and had focussed on his work, preferring to spend his free time alone. Then he'd nearly died on the recent mission and that had made him realise that life was too short to not enjoy yourself.

'But that's not the reason is it'? That little voice was back, mocking him once more with its self-satisfied tone. 'You're doing it because you can't have Chris'

Leon silently cursed the voice. It absolutely wasn't because he couldn't have Chris. He pushed the voice aside and thought more about his unsuccessful track record. He'd decided he was gay fairly early on in his life. He'd barely been eighteen years old. That wasn't even old enough to make an informed decision was it? And anyway, he'd never even slept with a woman. How did he truly know unless he tried? The revelation hit him as hard as his hangover had done. Maybe the reason he was so unfulfilled with his recent behaviour was that he simply wasn't into men in the way that he thought he was. His head was fuzzy from his hangover but that point seemed clear. By the time he'd walked through the town and to his front door he'd convinced himself that all this time he'd been wrong. He wasn't gay at all.

"Dennis called." was all Chris had to say to him when he walked into the kitchen. The older man was sitting at the table eating a full fried breakfast. Leon's hangover screamed for some of the greasy goodness too but he knew that his stomach would end up rejecting it. He clumsily poured himself a glass of water from the tap and drank it down greedily, hoping to quench his sudden thirst.

"He wants to know when you're able to sort out this debriefing." Chris added when he received no reply. Leon wasn't exactly sure why he'd been so offish with Chris lately. He supposed the realisation that he was attracted to him had scared him for a while. He'd been burnt so much in the past by admitting that sort of thing he'd almost automatically started pushing him away. But his earlier conclusion regarding his sexuality made that pretty redundant now.

"I suppose I should give him a call." He replied. He poured another glass of water and downed that one too. "Thanks by the way. I've noticed that you've done the washing up and tidied the kitchen." He nodded at the empty sink and gleaming surfaces.

Chris looked up and seemed bewildered by the thank you. He stared at Leon suspiciously as if he was expecting the younger man to add some sort of insult onto the end of it.

"Yeah, well, it needed doing." He said in an off hand manner. He stared for a moment. "Are you feeling alright"?

"Of course I am." Leon shrugged. "Why'd you ask"?

"Well your speaking to me for one thing." Chris answered simply with a shrug. Leon couldn't help but wince at that. He supposed he did feel bad for the way he'd been treating Chris. After all, the guy had saved his life.

"Maybe I've just realised how grateful I am. For you saving my life back at that hellhole. I said I didn't need a partner and you proved me wrong." Leon shrugged too, like the whole thing had been no big deal.

"Ok this is getting weird," Chris replied, half jokingly, half serious. "Let me get this straight. You hate me. Then you're alright with me. Then I save your life and you're grateful and start treating me like a friend. Then you barely speak to me and now you're acting like a normal guy? Have I got that right"?

"Look…I'm really sorry for the way I've been acting towards you." Leon replied sincerely. When Chris put it like that it really did make him sound like a completely unreasonable jerk.

"No, no, it's fine" Chris smiled. This was yet another strange twist in Leon's behaviour. He recognised the patterns clear enough. The risk taking, the total 180 in character, the drinking. He'd been there himself. Although Leon had never been officially diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Chris wondered if the return of Krauser and everything that had gone down at the facility had brought it back to the surface again. It would certainly account for Leon's recent actions. The trouble however was how to approach it, if at all. He shrugged easily at the younger man. "I can handle Nice Guy Leon. He's a guy I can really get on board with."

"Well then maybe you'd like a come for a drink later on tonight"? Leon heard himself asking. It had been so long since he'd allowed anyone to actually be a friend to him that he'd almost forgotten how to do it. A drink sounded good though, plus, if he was with Leon there was no chance of him running off with another weirdo. He figured he might as well take the opportunity while he could.

"Sounds good to me."

"Back off. Not interested." Chris grunted. He was sitting at the bar, another beer in his hand. Only this time it wasn't guys that were coming on to him. In fact, he'd just turned down a particularly beautiful woman. She made a huffing noise and strutted away, swinging her glossy brown hair as she went. Chris shook his head as he watched her go. What was his problem? Normally he'd be well in his element, surrounded by beautiful women. He looked across at the dance floor. His problem was currently enjoying a dirty dance with some elegant looking woman with short black hair. Her creamy skin stood out amongst the tans around her and she was wearing a long red dress, split at the sides to show her shapely calves. He'd been pleased when Leon had asked him to go out for a drink. He'd thought that it meant that they were finally building bridges. Only it turned out to be yet another episode of Leon's strange behaviour. Chris slammed his drink down on the bar top as he watched Leon pull the woman in for a kiss. It wasn't the sort of kiss that Chris gave his sister. It was the sort he'd used to give to Jill. He simply didn't understand it. Leon was gay. He'd read it in the personnel file. He'd seen him picking up countless losers over the past couple of days, all of who were men. He was pretty certain that gay guys tended not to go around feeling up women. Yet there Leon was, cavorting on the dance floor with some bar floozy. He should've suspected something when Leon had taken him to a straight bar instead of the usual gay bar he seemed to frequent. Chris had just figured that Leon was thinking of him and that he might be uncomfortable going to a gay bar. Apparently not.

He picked at the label on his beer bottle. He didn't know how much more of this increasing strangeness he could take. It was getting harder and harder to guess Leon's next move and Chris was beginning to wonder if he even wanted to anymore. It wasn't something he'd ever wanted to believe but maybe some people were just beyond help. It looked as if Dennis had been right. It was going to be a case of riding it out until Leon decided he'd had enough and was ready to get back in the game.

"Chris"! Leon was suddenly at his side. The woman was beside him as well, her arm wrapped around Leon's waist. "I'm going back home," Leon yelled into his ear over the acoustic guitar music that was coming from the quartet in the corner. He nodded towards the woman who smiled sexily. Frankly, the smile left Chris cold.

"Great." Chris replied, trying his best to nod enthusiastically. Leon obviously didn't pick up on his unhappiness because he disappeared shortly afterwards. Chris sighed deeply and ordered himself another drink. He spotted a lone woman at the other end of the bar, looking around the room as if she was just waiting for someone to ask her to dance. If he looked at her through his beer goggles he supposed she looked a little like Jill. As soon as he got his beer, Chris made his way over to her, deciding that it was best to try and show willing and try to forget about Leon.

Leon knew he'd made a mistake as soon as he'd arrived back at the house. The woman he'd met at the bar, Ada Wong, wasn't exactly backwards in coming forwards. He'd led her up to the bedroom and within seconds her dress was on the floor and she was tugging at his belt. He supposed that some men would find that sort of woman an incredible turn on, particularly when she'd finally freed his soft cock, slammed him against the bedroom wall and taken it into her mouth in an effort to get him hard. It was clear then that he was almost definitely gay. He closed his eyes and tried his best to think sexy thoughts. Unsurprisingly they all involved men. Leon let out a moan as one particular guy came into his mind's eye. It wasn't that Wong woman that was sucking him off, it was Chris. Those talented lips and tongue were Chris'. Leon could feel himself getting hard at last. Ada continued her oral ministrations for a few more minutes before she finally stopped. Leon kept his eyes closed as she stood up and whispered in his ear.

"Fuck me."

"No." Leon opened his eyes and barely had time to see her expression as he yanked his pants back up and bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. He'd never felt so uncomfortable in his life! He'd made a massive mistake in thinking that he wasn't gay. Ada Wong was beautiful by anyone's standards and she just simply didn't do it for him. He'd been clutching at straws, trying to convince himself that he was straight but all he was really doing was avoiding the simple fact that he was attracted to Chris. He leant heavily against the sink, wincing slightly as the cold porcelain came into contact with the naked flesh of his back. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed heavily. It was happening all over again.

"_Good work out there Comrade." Jack Krauser clapped Leon on the back, a good-natured grin spreading across his face. The two of them were holed up in a makeshift camp somewhere in the depths of the Brazilian rainforest. They were hot on Javier Hidalgo's tail and with luck; they'd be back at the barracks in America in a matter of days. _

"_Bet you were worried I'd drop the ball huh"? Leon teased. Krauser leant back on his elbows, staring up at the night sky. Leon had been working alongside Krauser ever since he'd turned up at the training grounds a couple of years ago. Jack Krauser was ex-Army and thus highly respected within the Agency. He was the star of the barracks, proficient with firearms and hand to hand combat. He'd taken Leon under his wing and it hadn't been long before the higher-ups had seen how good a team they made. They'd been put together for every important mission since then and slowly but surely, they'd gotten to know each other pretty well. Leon had told Jack all about the Raccoon City incident and how up until recently, he'd been the sole guardian of Sherry Birkin. He'd been understanding and sympathetic when Leon had told him how much he'd grown to care for her and how he'd hoped to become her permanent legal guardian. Jack had even suggested that Leon write to Sherry and he'd been there when the letter had been returned to the barracks unopened with 'return to sender' stamped across it in bold red letters. In turn, Jack had opened up about himself somewhat. He'd detailed his tough upbringing with his alcoholic father before he'd enrolled in the Army. He'd talked about his tours of duty in some of the most horrific war torn areas of the world. Leon had been there to listen as Jack spoke of the horrors he'd seen on the front lines. The more time they spent together and the more they talked, the more Leon had become entranced by the older man. He'd catch himself watching Jack as he sparred with others or as he stripped off in the barracks. His attraction grew and grew and he knew that he was going to have to act on it. Jack had never made any mention of having a wife or a girlfriend so it was possible that he might feel the same way or at least consider it. _

"_Drop the ball"? Jack laughed. "I'm surprised you even know what one of those is. I've seen you on the sports field Kid." He added with a snort. Leon smiled but didn't reply. He was too busy thinking. He'd told himself on the day he and Jack had been sent to Brazil that he'd tell Jack about his feelings before they returned home. He knew it was a risky move, telling him during a mission. He was trained to think that he needed to be focussed on the task at hand, that personal feelings and opinions needed to be left back at the barracks but Leon knew that as much as that made sense, they weren't robots. Half of what he'd learnt about Jack had come from lulls in missions, when they'd had nothing to do but talk. Couple that with the fact that there always seemed to be someone walking in on your conversations back at the barracks then it made perfect sense. He knew that it wouldn't be wise to just blurt 'by the way Jack, I really want to fuck you'. He'd be running the risk of creating an atmosphere if Jack rejected him. He was smarter than that. If he was going to approach this logically, the best thing for him to do would be to admit to him that he was gay. He knew that he needed to get it off his chest and he could also use it as a gauge for how Jack might respond to his other confession. He figured at the very least Jack would be understanding. He'd been great with all the weird shit he'd told him about Raccoon so something as inconsequential as Leon being gay would be water off a duck's back._

"_Don't think too much Kid, you'll hurt yourself." Jack's voice cut into Leon's thoughts, bringing him out of his reverie and back into the jungle camp with the older man. He was polishing his combat knife with the special cloth he kept in one of his belt packs. _

"_I've got something to tell you." Leon replied, trying to keep his voice sound casual even though his heart was hammering in his chest. "I know it won't matter or anything but it's just one of those things I wanna get off my chest." He shrugged and decided to dive right in. "I'm gay." He said it clearly, looking down at his combat boots as he spoke. Jack was silent for a few moments before he finally spoke. _

"_I'm telling you now. If you dare to come near me I'll gut you." He spoke in a calm yet threatening voice, a tone that Leon had never heard before. He looked at his friend and knew that he'd made a terrible mistake. _

"I'll just go shall I"? Ada's contempt filled voice floated through the bathroom door and into his consciousness. When Leon didn't reply he heard her mutter something before the clacking of her heels on the wooden floor faded away. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Chris closed the front door and scrubbed the garish lipstick off his stubbled cheek. He caught sight of his miserable expression in the mirror above the phone table and it didn't make him feel any better. He wandered into the kitchen and yanked open the fridge. He pulled out a hunk of chorizo and bit into it as he headed for the lounge. What he needed to do now was collapse on the sofa and flip through some of the comic books that he'd bought and hopefully not hear anything from what was probably going on upstairs.

He expected to see Leon's woman again at breakfast so it came as a total surprise to find her sitting on the sofa, tapping away on Leon's laptop. She jumped when she saw him standing there, slammed the laptop closed and quickly put something into her pocket.

"What the fuck are you doing"? He demanded, dropping the chorizo and glaring at her. She stood up, ran a hand through her silky black hair and fixed him with a level smile.

"Nothing handsome." She purred. "In fact, I was just leaving." She walked towards him, swaying her hips as she did so. She came to a stop beside him, running her elegant hand over his left bicep. "Looks like I went home with the wrong man." She whispered into his ear.

"Just get the hell out," Chris said, pushing her hand off him. There was something about her smarmy nature that made him feel wary. He didn't know what she'd been doing but he could hardly hold her hostage and demand answers. Besides, she was just some bimbo from the bar. She was probably checking her Facebook page or something.

"Bye handsome." She replied smoothly. She smiled at him once more before sashaying out of the lounge. Chris heard the front door close behind her.

'Good riddance' he muttered to himself, picking up the chorizo from the floor and took another good bite. Deciding that the sausage alone wasn't going to do, he considering calling in a takeaway. Leon had coached him on enough Spanish to be able to order a double pepperoni with extra cheese and it was something that certainly sounded good right about now. He supposed he should ask Leon if he fancied some too. He headed up the stairs and after a quick look around the rooms; he ascertained that Leon was in the bathroom. His bedroom door was wide open and the only signs of recent occupation was Leon's black t-shirt lying crumpled on the floor. Chris pounded on the bathroom door with his fist.

"Leon"!

There was silence for a few moments followed by.

"Come in."

Chris frowned. That hadn't been the reply he'd been expecting. He opened the bathroom door and saw Leon sitting on the floor beside the sink and staring at the bath. Wordlessly, Chris entered the bathroom and sat down beside him. Leon was shirtless and leaning with his back against the tiled wall. Chris could clearly see the scar from Raccoon City on his left shoulder and the neat red line from his recent stomach surgery. Seeing them made him feel sick as he remembered the events at the facility.

"Is Ada gone"? Leon asked quietly.

"Yep" Chris nodded. "I must say. Hiding out in a bathroom to avoid speaking to someone is awfully classy."

"Thank god for that." Leon exhaled, resting his head against the wall. "She was a bit of a mistake."

"Look Leon. I'm going to say this now before I change my mind. I'm going back to America tomorrow." Chris replied. He'd come to the decision back at the bar and he needed to follow it through. He wasn't Leon's babysitter. It wasn't a job he needed or wanted. As much as he cared for the guy, he was going to have to let go. He had his own life to get back to. That was what the sensible part of his brain was telling him anyway. The other part was telling him that he could, and indeed should, stay just a little longer. If he listened to that part however, he would probably never go home.

"I'm surprised you weren't sent back sooner," Leon admitted.

"Dennis tried" Chris said. "I was officially relieved of my duties to the government shortly after our adventure in the facility. I made the choice to stay." He shrugged as if it had been a simple decision which, he supposed it had, it had just put him out of pocket by a couple of hundred bucks as well as being in his sister's bad books as well as Barry's and, if he was honest, his landlord's as well.

"Why would you do that"? Leon asked, unable to keep the obvious surprise from his voice. He turned to look at Chris and his face matched his voice. Chris couldn't help but grin at the expression. "Do you always have to grin like an idiot"? Leon's tone was lightly teasing, almost fond. "Seriously, why did you stay"?

"Dunno" Chris shrugged. "Just didn't seem like the right time to go home I suppose." He looked at Leon and then quickly looked away. He saw Leon do the same.

"Maybe I'll come back to America" Leon said more to himself than to Chris. It was Chris' turn to look surprised. "You look like a trout when you pull that face," Leon mocked. "And before you get any ideas it's not because of you. I just think it's time that I went back. I need to stop running." He stared at the taps feeling incredibly stupid. It wasn't just his recent behaviour with Ada or those guys, or even the way he'd been treating Chris. He'd been running away since the whole business with Krauser and now what he really needed to do was get over himself and get back in the game. There was so much he wanted to tell Chris. He found himself wanting to tell him anything and everything. He'd been so surprised when Chris admitted staying off his own back. It gave him a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe Chris felt something for him too. He slid his hand across the cool tile and was about to put it over Chris' when the older man stood up and the moment was lost.

"Fair enough" Chris shrugged. "It's too hot over here anyway. I was gonna order a pizza, you want some"?

"Sounds good." Leon hauled himself up off the floor too. For the briefest of moments he really wished that Chris wasn't such a retard when it came to other people's feelings. "Since it's your last night here why don't we crack open the good whiskey I was saving"?

"I like this new you." Chris replied as he closed the bathroom door and started down the stairs. "Although it does make it harder to do this…" He gave Leon a quick shove, causing the younger man to stumble down the last three stairs and land in a heap at the bottom. Leon glared up at him from his place on the floor and Chris grinned widely. "Well…you'll miss me when I'm gone."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Leon knew he was right.

"You didn't do what I would consider to be an admirable job," Wesker intoned as Ada handed him the USB stick she'd retrieved from Kennedy's house. Wesker was seated in the black leather chair opposite her; his face turned towards the small window of the private jet on which they were currently flying on. It was impossible to see what exactly it was that he was looking at due to the dark glasses that he always wore. She frowned as he took a calm sip from his brandy glass.

"I got a supposedly gay man into the bedroom." Ada replied, trying her best not to sound as peevish as she felt. She was an excellent agent and her special skill, amongst others, was honey trapping. Kennedy hadn't exactly been a hard nut to crack but she still felt that given the fact he was supposed to be a devoted cocksucker, she'd done an excellent job.

"Nevertheless," Wesker continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I'm pleased that my research documents are back in the right hands," He stowed the USB in the inside pocket of his dark jacket. He swilled the amber liquid around his glass. "I'll be finding it all the more useful in the coming months…"

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE FACILITY – AFTERMATH

Notes:- So that's it folks! The end of the facility! A big thank you to everyone who has read this, whether you reviewed or not. For those of you who may be a little disappointed with the lack of male on male action, don't despair! Like all good relationships, it's going to take these two a while to get there but hopefully in the end it will have all be worth it. I'll be posting the first chapter of the sequel very very soon!


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